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The  burning  question  of  the  Twen- 
tieth Century  is  the  one  that  relates 
to  the  struggle  between  Capital  and 
Labor.  All  people  are  interested  in 
this  great  issue,  inasmuch  as  it  affects 
the  income  and  expenses  of  each  fam- 
ily and  will  decide  the  destiny  of  the 
rich  and  of  the  poor.  Capital  is  strong  in  money  and 
brains,  while  Labor  in  addition  to  its  mental  power  is 
especially  strong  in  men  and  muscles,  and  each  side 
is  contending  for  the  mastery  of  the  field. 

It  is  not  hard  to  find  the  cause  of  this  unhappy  strife. 
A  little  reflection  and  observation  reveal  an  alarming 
condition  of  things  in  our  country.  We  see  the  great 
corporations  and  monopolies  heartlessly  grabbing  the 
lion's  share,  and  with  rapacious  greed  they  are  swal- 
lowing the  whole  country  at  a  steadily  increasing  rate. 
We  also  see  the  arms  of  the  octopus  Graft  fastening 
themselves  upon  every  part  of  our  fair  land. 

On  the  other  hand,  we  see  the  vast  army  of  workers 
grinding  their  lives  away  at  hard  toil  and  ever  getting 
the  deepest  cut  from  the  competitive  whip,  and  suffer- 


O  PREFACE. 

ing  from  a  fiendish  partiality  at  the  hands  of  the  law- 
makers. These  workers  are  tantalized  by  a  taste  of 
refined  life,  but  they  are  unable  to  earn  enough  to  live 
such  a  life.  They  have  not  been  blind  to  the  fact  that 
the  rich  are  becoming  richer  and  the  poor  are  becom- 
ing poorer,  just  because  monopolistic  oppression  has 
raised  the  prices  on  the  one  side  more  rapidly  than  it 
has  raised  wages  on  the  other  side. 

Under  the  whip  of  monopolistic  slavemasters,  the 
host  of  common  people,  generally  known  as  laborers, 
are  getting  deeper  and  deeper  into  bondage.  This  has 
given  rise  to  widespread  discontent  among  working- 
men,  which  has  found  its  expression  in  various  kinds 
of  Labor  Organizations  and  also  in  such  revolutionary 
measures  as  Strikes  and  Boycotts. 

This  movement  on  the  part  of  Labor  was  perhaps 
the  most  fortunate  thing  that  could  have  happened; 
for,  if  capitalistic  oppression  had  continued  unchecked 
for  a  few  decades  more,  by  this  time,  the  nation  would 
be  owned  and  controlled  by  a  few  great  moguls,  and 
the  great  bulk  of  humanity  would  be  reduced  to  a  new 
type  of  slavery  even  more  abject  than  the  kind  under 
which  we  now  suffer. 

The  rising  of  Labor  against  Capital  has  revealed  the 
low  spirit  of  the  greed  of  Monopoly.  The  workers  have 
found  that  if  they  wish  to  shake  off  the  fetters  which 
bind  them,  they  must  push  their  own  campaign  with 
vigor,  and  dig  out  their  own  path  to  liberty. 

When  one  man  earns  so  much  money  that  he  does 
not  know  how  to  invest  it,  and  the  other  man  earns  so 
little  money  that  he  does  not  know  how  to  get  enough 
to  eat,  then  the  time  has  arrived  to  call  a  halt;  and 
who  will  do  this  unless  the  people  as  a  mass  rise  up 


PREFACE.  7 

and  offer  their  protest  and  make  their  demand  for  an 
economic  change.  The  earth  yields  enough  to  feed  and 
clothe  everybody,  and  if  we  can  subtract  from  the 
amount  of  work  done  to-day,  the  useless  labor  spent 
by  reason  of  competition,  it  will  then  be  possible  for 
everybody  to  receive  the  reasonable  comforts  and 
luxuries  of  life;  and  to  do  this,  no  one  would  be  re- 
quired to  work  more  than  five  or  seven  hours  a  day 
under  the  reign  of  the  Co-operative  Commonwealth. 

It  is  impossible  in  a  brief  foreword  to  outline  the 
remedies  suggested  in  this  book.  The  reader  inter- 
ested in  this  matter  must  look  at  the  chapters  that  take 
up  this  phase  of  the  question.  It  is  easy  and  natural 
to  doubt,  but  the  practicability  of  pure  socialistic  prin- 
ciples is  readily  apparent  to  anyone  who  will  investi- 
gate the  workings  of  Municipal  Ownership,  and  the 
operations  of  our  socialistic  post-office  system. 

We  have  spent  considerable  time  in  investigation  in 
order  to  gather  facts  and  figures  for  this  book;  and  it 
would  be  impossible  to  enumerate  the  many  sources 
from  which  help  has  been  derived.  The  library  of 
modern  Socialism  is  very  extensive,  which  in  itself,  is 
an  indication  of  the  drift  of  the  age.  Social  economics 
is  a  study  that  has  come  to  stay.  Many  of  the  world  *s 
greatest  thinkers  are  seriously  studying  the  problems 
that  arise  in  connection  with  the  suffering  masses  and 
the  favored  classes. 

The  illustrations  are  the  product  of  the  ingenious 
mind  and  artful  hand  of  Paul  J.  Kraff t.  He  hasi 
readily  caught  the  spirit  of  the  book  and  has  forcibly 
portrayed  its  thought  in  the  beautiful  chapter  head- 
ings, pen  sketches  and  half-tones  that  adorn  this 
volume. 


8 


PREFACE. 


We  have  not  been  unduly  ambitious  in  writing  this 
book  expecting  that  it  would  turn  the  world  upside 
down,  but  we  had  hoped  that  it  would  have  some  in- 
fluence in  uplifting  the  general  masses  of  humanity 
upon  a  higher  level,  even  if  it  should  become  necessary 
to  bring  some  of  the  higher  classes  of  Society  upon  a 
more  common  level.  If  this  book  will  in  any  degree 
accomplish  this  end,  the  author  will  feel  amply  repaid 
for  the  many  months  of  work  which  he  spent  in  pre- 
paring it  for  the  market. 

The  Authob. 


In  placing  the  volume  ''Capital  and 
Labor*'  upon  the  book  market  of  the 
world,  we  believe  we  are  doing  a  valu- 
able service  for  all  mankind.  The  indi- 
cations of  Social  unrest  are  every- 
where clearly  seen,  and  we  cannot  be  indifferent  to  the 
stupendous  conflict  now  waging  between  the  great 
power  of  Monopoly  and  the  struggling  mass  of 
workers.  The  taunting  extravagances  of  the  rich  and 
the  miseries  of  the  grovelling  poor  cannot  be  forever 
tolerated  in  any  free  coimtry.  These  dangerous  ex- 
tremes in  our  national  life  must  be  abolished,  and  it 
should  be  done  in  an  equitable  manner. 

This  book  gives  a  graphic  description  of  present  con- 
ditions as  they  exist  among  all  grades  of  workers  and 
also  among  the  wealthy  classes.  The  spirit  of 
Monopoly  is  laid  bare ;  its  deceitful  mask  is  torn  aside, 
giving  the  reader  a  full  view  of  this  monstrosity  that 
hopes  to  feed  forever  on  the  sacrifices  of  our  millions 
of  toilers. 

Perhaps  nothing  will  appeal  to  the  reader  more  than 
the  fair  and  candid  manner  in  which  the  author  con- 
siders the  various  phases  of  this  complicated  question. 
Many  readers  will  be  astonished  to  learn  how  cruel  a 
master  competition  continues  to  be  to  the  people.    The 

9 


10  INTRODUCTION. 

book  makes  a  strong  plea  to  free  the  millions  of  our 
wage  earners  from  the  enslavement  into  which  abused 
liberty  has  forced  them. 

One  noticeable  thing  about  this  book  is  the  logical 
and  impartial  maimer  in  which  the  author  proceeds 
from  step  to  step  in  his  argument.  He  discounts  an- 
archy, revolution  and  other  similar  instruments,  and 
urges  that  the  battle  shall  be  won  by  regular  and  law- 
ful means,  looking  forward  to  a  final  redemption  by  a 
change  in  our  system  of  economics. 

The  book  does  not  abound  in  gloomy  forebodings  or 
pessimistic  utterances.  It  digs  a  path  to  the  sunlight 
of  emancipation  and  shows  the  human  race  a  way  out 
of  the  misery  into  which  the  slavelords  of  competition 
have  whipped  the  masses.  There  is  an  inspiration  in 
the  happy  thought  of  a  race  redeemed  from  Social 
bondage,  and  this  is  the  thrill  of  delight  with  which  the 
book  closes. 

The  illustrations  are  of  the  finest  quality,  being  the 
work  of  the  deservedly  famous  artist,  Paul  Krafft  of 
New  York.  Each  production  is  original  and  with  great 
care  was  drawn  expressly  for  this  volume,  thus  sup- 
plementing the  valuable  chapters  of  the  book. 

Concerning  the  author,  little  need  be  said  as  his 
name  has  already  appeared  in  connection  with  other 
popular  books.  Only  one  who  is  accustomed  to  study 
and  analyze  a  subject  carefully  could  have  written  a 
volume  of  this  kind.  He  is  a  genius  in  the  book-writ- 
ing world,  and  his  millions  of  readers  will  welcome 
this  his  latest  production.  His  writings  are  fascinat- 
ing and  stand  alone  in  all  the  range  of  fact  and  fiction. 

The  Publishers. 


CHAPTER  I. 
THE  ARMY  OF  LABOR  AGAINST  CAPITAL. 

I.  The  Greatest  Battle  of  the  Ages — Strife  Between 
Labor  and  Capital — Its  Changing  Phases  from  Ancient  to  Modern 
Times — ^Millions  of  Men  Against  Millions  of  Money — The  Advance 
Skirmishes — Great  Need    of  the  Grolden  Rule. 

II.  The  Solving  op  Other  Great  Questions — Redemption 
the  Great  Theme  Nineteen  Hundred  Years  Ago — Liberty  in  Church 
and  State  the  Great  Issue  of  the  Past  Five  Hundred  Years — ^The 
Social  Question  the  World's  Present  Problem 21 

CHAPTER  II. 
DIGNITY  OF  LABOR. 

I.  Labor  and  Idleness — Divine  Origin  of  Labor — Idleness 
and  Laziness  Breed  Poverty,  Disease  and  Death — The  Slavery  of 
the  Idle  Rich — Happiness  and  Contentment  the  Fruit  of  Earning 
What  We  Eat. 

II.  General  Statements  Concerning  Labor — 1.  All  Grades 
of  Labor  Are  Honorable — 2.  Labor  Furnishes  a  Means  of  Support 
— 3.  Labor  Is  a  Great  Source  of  All  True  Value — 4.  Labor  Is  a 
Giant  Capable  of  Ruling. 

III.  What  the  Dignity  op  Labor  Demands — 1.  The  Laborer 
Should  Receive  Fair  Treatment — 2.  Laborers  Have  a  Right  to 
Combine  for  Mutual  Protection  29 

CHAPTER  III. 
LABOR  IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  THE  AGES. 

I.  Age  op  Slavery — Its  Origin,  Egypt,  Greece  and  Rome — 
The  Low  Condition  of  the  Slaves. 

II.  The  Dawn  and  Reign  op  Feudalism — ^From  Slavery  to 
Serfdom — Causes  of  the  Development. 

11 


12  CONTENTS. 

III.  Our  Present  Contract  System — Labor  Sold  for  a  Fixed 
Wage — England's  Fight  Against  Capitalistic  Repression  of  the 
Laborers — The  World-wide  Upward  Trend. 

IV.  The  Coming  Deliverance— Through  the  Human  Brother- 
hood Principles  of  Thomas  Jefferson,  Instead  of  the  Aristocratic 
Teachings  of  Alexander  Hamilton 36 

CHAPTER  IV. 
THE  CONDITION  OF  THE  SKILLED  WORKER. 

I.  Introduction — The  Sfcilled  Worker  a  Natural  Evolution  in 
the  Ranks  of  Labor. 

II.  The  Skilled  Worker  Viewed  in  the  Light  of  Reason 
— 1.  Their  Wages  Are  Gradually  Reaching  the  Proper  Limit — 2. 
Skilled  Laborers  as  a  Class  Are  Refined  Slaves — Competition  Well- 
nigh  Intolerable — Apprehension  of  the  Uncertain  Future — 3.  They 
Are  Handicapped  Three-fold —  ( 1 )  Their  Needs  Increase  More  Rap- 
idly Than  Their  Wages — (2)  The  Skilled  Laborer  Is  at  the  Mercy 
of  the  "Boss"— (3)  The  Skilled  Laborer  Is  Restless  Over  the 
Unearned  Wealth  of  the  Rich 44 

CHAPTER  V. 
THE  CONDITION  OF  THE  UNSKILLED  WORKER. 

I.  A  General  Glimpse. 

II.  The  Condition  of  the  Unskilled  Worker — 1.  His  Con. 
dition  Is  One  of  Slavery — 2.  His  Condition  Is  One  of  Suffering  and 
Misery — His  Present  Environment  Entourages  Intemperance,  Lust 
and  Crime,  and  Results  in  Ill-health  and  Inefficiency — 3.  His  Con- 
dition Is  One  of  General  Poverty — The  Tenement  House  Section 
Considered — Poverty  in  the  Mining  Regions — 4.  His  Prospects  for 
Old  Age  Are  Not  Favorable 50 

CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  CAUSE  OF  LABOR'S  DISCONTENT. 

A.  ARISING  FROM  CONDITIONS  IMPOSED  ON  LABOR. 

I.  The  Grinding  and  Killing  Systems  of  Work — 1.  The 
Length  of  a  Day's  W^ork— 2.  The  "Rythm  Stroke"— 3.  Sweating 
System — 4.  Robbed  of  the  Sabbath  Rest. 

II.  Low  Wages — Average  Wages  Insufficient — The  Slave  Rate 
for  Unskilled  Labor  Contrasted  With  the  Capitalistic  Gain  in 
Profit«. 


CONTENTS.  13 

III.  Uncertainty  of  Work — ^Causing  Unrest  Among  the 
Workers — The  Terror  of  Being  Out  of  Work — Causes  of  Uncer- 
tainty— 1.  Shut  Down — 2.  Panics — 3.  Discharging  of  Employees. 

IV.  Blessings  Changed  to  Curses — 1.  Invention — Some  Ex- 
amples of  What  Machinery  Does  to  Make  Labor  More  Irksome — 
England's  Experience — 2.  Immigration — Its  Evil  Effect  Upon  the 
American  Labor  Market  Under  Our  Present  Economic  System— 
Under  Social  Reform,  Imported  Labor  Would  Be  a  Blessing 63 

CHAPTER  VII. 

THE  CAUSE  OF  LABOR'S  DISCONTENT,     (continued). 

B.  ARISING  FROM  THE  ATTITUDE  AND  EXAMPLE  OF  THE 

RICH. 

Many  Rich  In  Using  Their  Wealth  Are  Guilty  of: 
I.    Indifference — II.  Heartlessness — III.  Foolishness — IV. 
Fashionable  Robbery  87 

CHAPTER  Vni. 
THE  CAUSE  OF  LABOR'S  DISCONTENT,     (continued). 
e.  ARISING  FROM  GRAFTING  AND  UNFAIR  LEGISLATION, 

I.  Graft — Evil  Widespread — Instances  of  Graft  in  the  United 
States— Efforts  to  Check  the  Evil. 

II.  Unfair  Legislation — Much  Legislation  Controlled  by 
Capitalists — Instances  of  Partial  Legislation  and  Partial  Applica^ 
tion  of  Law — Revelations  of  Lawson 99 

CHAPTER  IX. 

THE  CAUSE  OF  LABOR'S  DISCONTENT,     (continued). 

D.  ARISING  FROM  THE  EVILS  OF  COMPETITION. 

I.  Origin  of  Competition. 

II.  Claims  for  Competition. 

III.  Evil  Effects  of  Competition — 1.  It  Made  Possible  the 
So-called  White  Slavery — 2.  Competition  Has  Slain  Its  Tens  of 
Thousands — 3.  Competition  Is  Indifferent  to  the  Welfare  of  the 
Weak — 4.  Competition  Produces  an  Evil  Effect  Upon  the  Employer 
— 5.  Competition  Compels  a  Laborer  to  Bid  Against  Another  for 
Work — 6.  Competition  Has  Enriched  the  Employing  Class  and 
Degraded  the  Laboring  Class — 7.  Competition  Compels  an  Enor- 
mous Waste  of  Capital  and  Energy 109 


14  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  X. 

THE  CAUSE  OF  LABOR'S  DISCONTENT,     (concluded). 

E.    ARISING  FROM,  TRUSTS  AND  MONOPOLIES. 

I.  Benefits  of  Monopoly  Briefly  Stated. 

II.  Evils  of  Monopoly  Operated  for  Private  Gain — 1.  It 
Forces  the  Small  Competitors  to  Surrender  or  Die — 2,  It  Robs  the 
Public — 3.  It  Takes  Advantage  of  the  Workers — 4.  Certain  Corpora- 
tions Restrict  the  Dealer  to  Their  Own  Products — 6.  It  Robs  the 
Producer — 6.  Certain  Monopolies  Defy  the  Law — 7.  Monopoly  In- 
fluences Legislation. 

III.  Tidal  Waves  of  Public  Opinion  Against  Monopoly. 

IV.  Proposed  Remedies  of  the  Monopoly  Evil — 1.  The 
Acquirement  of  Foreign  Markets — 2.  The  Abolition  of  All  Legisla- 
tive Privileges — 3.  Prevent  Overcapitalization — 4.  Compel  "Pub- 
licity" of  All  Trust  Matters — 5.  Regulation  of  Trusts  by  Law — 6. 
Kill  the  Trusts — 7.  Let  All  the  Trusts  and  Monopolies  Be  Operated 

for  the  Benefit  of  the  Public 119 

CHAPTER  XL 
THE  WORLD-WIDE  STRUGGLE  AGAINST  MONOPOLY. 

I.  Austria — ^Trusts  of  Central  Europe  Born  in  1873 — The 
World  Is  Watching  the  Result. 

II.  Switzerland — Noted  For  Its  Policy  of  Home  Government. 

III.  France — Trusts  Are  Probihited  by  Law. 

IV.  Germany — Monopolies  Increased  For  Fifty  Years — ^FuU 
Literature  on  Trade  Combination — Many  Labor  Unions  Have  Been 
Organized. 

V.  England — ^London  Center  of  Monopoly — Capitalists  More 
Shrewd  and  Antagonism  to  Them  Less  Intense — Socialism  Growing 
Rapidly. 

VI.  Scotland  and  Ireland — Profiting  from  England's  Experi- 
ence— Experiment  in  Glasgow. 

VII.  Bed  of  Nihilism — ^Reformers  Know  of  No  Better  Way  to 
Express  Their  Indignation — Civilization  Advances,  Socialism  Dawn- 
ing. 

VIII.  Belgium — ^Monopoly  Slowly  Growing — Cause  of  Labor 
Growing  More  Rapidly. 

IX.  The  Australian  States — Most  Aggressive  Field  of 
Recent  Years — ^Labor  in  Politics  Is  Slowly  Winning 136 

CHAPTER  XII. 

•       THE  COMING  DISASTER. 

The  Evils  of  Wealth:  Luxury  and  Vice— Downfall  of  Other 
Nations,  Rome,  Spain — Conditions  in  England  and  United  States..   151 


CONTENTS.  15 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

WHY  ARE  THE  WRONGS  NOT  RIGHTED? 

Labor  and  Capital  Each  Places  Blame  on  the  Other — Testi- 
mony of  Middle  Class — Private  Ownership  and  Free  Competition 
as  Controlling  Forces — Selfishness  on  the  Throne — ^The  New  Social 
Economics  Promises  Relief 161 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

THE  RISE  AND  REIGN  OF  LABOR  UNIONS. 

I.  The  Rise  of  Labor  Unions — Evolution  Was  Redeeming 
Man  Too  Slowly— The  Worker  Took  the  Initiative  to  Get  His 
Rights — Capitalists  Alarmed,  Influenced  Legislation  Forbidding 
Workmen  to  Organize — ^Repeal  of  These  Laws  Followed  by  Wide- 
spread Labor  Organizations. 

II.  The  Reign  of  Labor  Unions — First  World-wide  Organi- 
zation Described — Knights  of  Labor  and  Its  Aim — ^The  Greatest 
Labor  Organization  of  Earth :  "The  American  Federation  of  Labor," 
With  Nearly  Three  Hundred  Branches  of  Labor  Organizations — 
Charitable  Feature  of  Labor  Organizations 166 

CHAPTER  XV. 

LABOR  UNIONS  CONSIDERED. 

I.  Objections  to  Labor  Unions — 1.  Some  Claim  That  They 
Threaten  Public  Interest  More  Than  Monopolies — 2.  They  Will  Not 
Be  Able  to  Stand  Genuine  Adversity — 3.  They  Represent  a  Very 
Small  Portion  of  the  Entire  Mass  of  Workei^— 4.  They  Do  Not 
Enter  Politics  as  They  Should — ^5.  Trade  Unions  Infringe  Upon  the 
Natural  Right  of  Employers — 6.  Trade  Unions  Destroy  the  Liberties 
of  Many  of  Their  Members — 7.  Trade  Unions  Have  Been  Criticised 
for  Their  Method  of  Limiting  Apprenticeship. 

II.  Benefits  of  Organized  Labor— 1.  It  Has  Instituted  the 
Weekly  Wage  in  Lawful  Money — ^2.  It  Has  Influenced  Legislation 
Against  Foreign  Contract  Labor — 3.  It  IT^"  Compelled  the  Passage 
of  Sanitary  Laws — 4.  It  lias  Been  Largely  Instru-nental  in  Abolish- 
ing Child  Labor  and  the  Sweating  System — ^5.  It  Has  Lessened  the 
Length  of  a  Day's  Work — 6.  Wages  Have  Increased  Materially — 7. 

It  Has  Exposed  the  Evils  of  Trusts 172 

CHAPTER  XVI. 
RASH  REMEDIES. 

I.  Anarchy— 1.  Five  Kinds  of  Anarchy:  (1)  l^^volutionary, 
(2)    Revolutionary,    (3)    Communistic,    (4)    InuividuaMstic,    (6) 


16  CONTENTS. 

Reformed — 2.  Teachings  and  Aims  of  Anarchy —  { 1 )  Law  and  Gov- 
ernment Are  Invasive — ^(2)  It  Aims  to  Give  to  Everybody  Free 
and  Natural  Liberty — (3)  It  Aims  to  Overthrow  All  Existing  Gov- 
ernment. 

II.  Nihilism — What  Anarchyy  Is  to  the  Civilized  World, 
Nihilism  Is  to  Russia. 

III.  Insurrection  and  Revolution — These  Methods  Similar 
to  Anarchy,  But  Frequently  Prove  a  Blessing — Commune  of  Paris — 
Revolution  of  Cromwell,  and  the  Thirteen  American  Colonies, 

IV.  Boycott — V.  "Grand  Divide" — VI.  Strikes — 1.  Definition 
and  Nature  of  Strikes — 2,  History  of  Strikes^ — 3.  Cause  of  Strikes 
— 4.  Evils  of  Strikes — 5.  Benefits  of  Strikes. 

VII.    Sympathetic  Strikes 181 

CHAPTER  XVII. 
LEGISLATIVE  REMEDIES. 

I.  A  Glimpse  of  One  Hundred  Years  Ago. 

II.  Recent  Laws  in  Favor  of  Labor. 

III.  Legal  Enactments  Against  Monopoly. 

IV.  Legislation  Considered  as  a  Remedy 199 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

MUTUAL  AGREEMENT  REMEDIES. 

I.  Profit  Sharing — II.  Sliding  Scau; — III.  Piece-Woek — 
IV.  Sending  Unemployed  to  Farms — V.  Arbitration 208 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

PROPOSED  REMEDIES. 

I.  Christianization  of  Capital — II.  Income  Tax — III.  Sin- 
gle Tax — IV.  Self- Help — V.  Industrial  Schools 216 

CHAPTER  XX. 

SOCIALISTIC  REIVIEDIES. 

I.  Communism— II.  Co-operative  Societies— III.  National- 
ization or  Land 222 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

SOCIALISM. 

A  Very  Elastic  Word,  and  Must  Be  Divorced  From  Anarchy, 
Nihilism. 


CONTENTS.  17 

I.  Definitions  of  Socialism — 11.  Aims  of  Socialism— III. 
Remarks  Concebning  Socialism— 1.  It  Is  Practical  and  Is  En- 
dorsed by  Eminent  Men — ^The  Post  Office  System  and  Municipal 
Ownership  Are  Socialistic  Measures — 2.  Socialism  Is  the  Fifth 
Industrial  Order  in  the  History  of  Labor — 3.  Socialism  Is  a  World- 
wide Influence  and  Will  Finally  Triumph 229 

CHAPTER  XXII. 
BLESSINGS  UNDER  SOCIAL  REFORM. 

I.  Poverty  Will  Be  at  an  End — Poverty  of  the  Poor  and 
Rich  Will  Vanish — ^Many  Rich  Deserve  Sympathy  Rather  Than 
Censure. 

II.  The  Financial  Burden  of  All  Misfortunes  Will  Be 
Borne  by  the  Public. 

III.  The  Death  Rate  and  Sickness  Will  Be  Decreased 
Under  Social  Reform. 

IV.  Children  Will  Be  Properly  Protected  Under  Social 
Reform. 

V.  Sunday  Labor  Will  Be  Reduced  to  a  Minimum— Com- 
petition Will  Eventually  Force  Men  to  Work  Seven  Days  a  Week — 
Social  Reform  Will  Demand  a  Day's  Rest — Much  of  the  Present 
Sunday  Work  Is  Unnecessary. 

VI.  Intemperance  Will  Be  Checked  Under  Social  Reform 
— Its  Deadliest  Blow  for  Centuries  Will  Be  Struck  by  the  Hand  of 
Social  Reform — ^No  One  Will  Get  Any  Financial  Benefit  by  Manu- 
facturing or  Selling  Liquor — ^Appetite  as  a  Cause  of  the  Evil  Con- 
sidered. 

VII.  Prostitution  and  Crime  Will  Be  Lessened  Under 
Social  Reform 244 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 
BLESSINGS  UNDER  SOCIAL  REFORM,     (continued). 

VIII.  Adulteration  of  Foods  Will  Be  Stopped. 

IX.  The  Tramp  and  Vagrant  Nuisance  Will  Be  Abolished 
— A  Beggar  Will  Either  Land  in  a  Public  Workhouse  or  Hospital. 

X.  The  Aged  and  the  Unfortunate  Will  Be  Fully  Cared 
For  259 

CHAPTER  XXrV. 

BLESSINGS  UNDER  SOCIAL  REFORM,     (concluded). 

XL  Much  Waste  Will  Be  Eliminated — 1.  The  Waste  of 
Advertising— 2.  The  Waste  of  Selling  Goods— 3.  The  Waste  of  Dis- 
tribution— 4.  Waste  in  the  Legal  World — 5.  Waste  of  Insurance — 
6.  The  Waste  of  Competition  in  Manufacturing — 7.  Convict  Waste. .  268 


18  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XXV. 
CHRIST  AND  SOCIAL  REFORM. 

1.  Christ  Taught  That  Selfishness  Is  Death— 2.  Christ  Taughl 
That  Unselfishness  and  Benevolence  Are  Blessed — 3.  Christ  Taught 
That  Life  Has  Worthier  Aims  Than  Wealth — i.  Christ  Forbids  the 
Hoarding  of  Wealth — 6.  Christ  Denounced  the  Spirit  of  Modern 
Competition — 6.  Christ  Clearly  Teaches  the  Spirit  of  Co-operation — 
7.  Christ  Teaches  Us  Not  to  Worry  Over  Temporal  Needs — 8.  Christ 
Condemned  Extortioners  and  Speculators 277 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 

HOW  TO  GET  SOCIAL  REFORM? 

I.  Will  We  Get  Social  Reform  Through  the  Church? — 
Ecclesiastical  Bodies  Do  Not  Frame  Civil  Laws — Social  Reform 
Demands  a  New  System  of  Economics — ^The  Church  Works  by  Per- 
suasion and  Love  and  Therefore  Cannot  Inaugurate  Social  Reform 
— It  Can  However,  Create  Public  Sentiment. 

II.  Will  We  Get  Social  Reform  Through  Politics  ?— Labor 
Organizations  Have  Prepared  the  Way  For  Victory — ^The  Most  Will 
Be  Accomplished  Through  Politics, 

III.  Stepping-stones  to  Reach  Social  Reform — ^Municipal 
Ownership — All  Measures  for  Partial  Relief  to  Working  Men — State 
and  National  Ownership — The  Highest  Plane  Will  Be  the  Co- 
operative  Commonwealth    290 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 

HOW  TO  GET  POSSESSION  OF  OUR  INDUSTRIES. 

I.  Bond  Issue  Method — II.  Freezing-out  Method — III.  Pub- 
lic   Seizure   Method — IV.  Privilege   Method 299 

CHAPTER  XXVIII. 
PROPER  SPURS  UNDER  SOCIAL  REFORM. 

I.  Competition  Will  Be  Eliminated  Under  Social  Reform. 

II.  Substitutes  for  Competition — 1.  System  of  Medals  as  a 
Spur— 2.  Honor  Will  Take  Place  of  Wealth — 3.  Educational  Merit 
Will  Be  Rewarded  With  More  Trustworthy  Positions^— 4.  Christian 
Impulse  the  Spur  of  All  Spurs 299 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 
A  GENERAL  GLIMPSE. 
A  Bird's-eye  View  of  the  Whole  Book 321 


PAGE 

Fort  Labor  and  Fort  Capital ." 27 

Capital  and  Labor  Machine 28 

The  Poor  Man's  Comfort. ., 61 

The  Juggernaut  of  Poverty 62 

Panic 75 

The  Gardener  at  Work 97 

Graft 98 

Level  of  Competition 114 

The  Idol  of  Monopoly 117 

The  Monster  of  Monopoly 118 

Labor  Against  Monopoly 144 

The  Coming  Disaster — National  Euin 159 

Levels  of  Society 160 

Before   and   After 227 

Following  the  Political  Leader 228 

The  Dawn  of  a  New  Era ,243 

Waiting  to  Die 265 

The  Death  of  the  Rich  Sinner 275 

The  Death  of  the  Poor  Christian 276 

The  Voter 294 

The  Path  of  Human  Life 319 

Monument  of  Skulls 320 

Mountain  of  Money 324 

Many  other  specially  executed  Illustrations  and  Drawings 
distributed  through  the  book. 

^  19 


o 


>*  • 


CHAPTER  I. 


—i^ti^, . 


I.— THE  GREATEST  BATTLE  OF  THE  AGES. 

The  world  is  yet  young,  and  it  shall  see  more  of  its 
manhood  in  the  next  one  hundred  years  than  ever  be- 
fore. All  the  by-gone  ages  are  stepping  stones  to  the 
golden  future,  which  will  so  outshine  the  past  that  it 
will  be  a  crown  of  glory  to  the  world's  history. 

Since  man  has  lived  upon  the  earth,  many  great  ques- 
tions have  been  settled ;  some  by  sharp  debates  in  Con- 
gress; others  by  great  political  campaigns,  and  still 
others  by  decisive  battles  in  which  thousands  of  human 
lives  were  sacrificed.  One  of  the  great  conflicts  be- 
tween man  and  man  which  has  never  reached  a  final 
settlement,  is  the  strife  between  the  employer  and  the 
employed ;  or,  in  more  general  terms,  between  Capital 
and  Labor. 

The  battle  has  been  long  drawn  out,  dating  back  to 
the  time  when  the  Egyptians  laid  the  lash  upon  their 

21 


22:  .•*••  \i:^AilMt  Of  LABOR  AGAINST  CAPITAL. 

•• '.•    .  V  :  ;•:  -./ 

playesj  .'Natipnafter.yiation,  as  it  advanced  in  the  scale 
i[)f*civxllzatipii,.i§LS*;ha(i  more  or  less  a  part  in  the  con- 
flict. Such  life  as  is  pictured  in  the  Patricians  and  Ple- 
beians of  Eome,  or  in  the  caste  life  of  India,  or  in  the 
slavery  of  the  olden,  or  of  modern  times,  is  a  sad  and 
terrible  comment  on  human  history. 

The  laborer  has  entered  his  complaint  against  the 
capitalists,  contending  that  his  rights  have  been  tram- 
pled under  foot,  and  that  he  has  not  received  a  suffi- 
cient return  for  his  toil.  In  return,  the  capitalist  in- 
geniously denies  the  charge,  declaring  that  the  worker 
is  unreasonable  in  his  claims,  and  is  never  satisfied, 
and  that  concessions  on  the  part  of  capital  only  encour- 
age further  demands  on  the  part  of  labor. 

Out  of  such,  and  similar  counter  charges,  there  has 
arisen  a  sharp  antagonism,  which  has  already  shown 
its  ominous  front  at  many  places.  The  lines  are  being 
more  clearly  and  tightly  drawn  every  year ;  and,  while 
the  optimist  sees  nothing  but  peace  and  prosperity 
under  our  present  system,  others  can  see  with  a  pro- 
phetic eye,  the  coming  transformation  of  society,  in 
which  all  present  social  conditions  will  be  changed,  the 
power  of  Monopoly  crushed,  and  the  gates  of  a  new 
Eden  opened  to  all  classes  of  workers.  The  regiments 
of  this  great  labor  army  have  already  crept  over  the 
dark  ravine,  and  will  continue  storming  the  breast- 
works of  the  enemy  until  their  cause  shall  not  only  be 
recognized,  but  until  complete  victory  shall  be  perched 
upon  their  banners. 

The  issues  involved  in  this  conflict  are  not  to  be 
winked  at  nor  brushed  aside  with  a  smile.  There  are 
serious  problems  to  solve,  and  the  question  will  never 
be  settled  until  it  is  settled  rightly.    May  the  final  and 


THE  AEMY  OF  LABOR  AGAINST  CAPITAL.  28 

decisive  battle  be  a  bloodless  one,  fought  out  with  the 
pen,  press,  and  the  ballot. 

The  side  called  Labor  can  count  upon  its  millions  of 
men,  while  the  other  side  can  boast  of  its  millions  of 
money.  It  is  plainly  evident  that  this  famous  conflict 
is  one  of  man  against  money,  or  a  small  army  with 
great  resources,  arrayed  against  a  numberless  army 
with  limited  resources  at  present.  By  reason  of  the 
handicap  of  Labor  these  two  great  forces  are  now  so 
evenly  balanced,  that  the  conflict  wages  at  one  time  in 
favor  of  Capital,  and  then  again  in  favor  of  Labor. 
The  details  of  the  passing  struggle  are  full  of  interest 
and  terror ;  and  each  year  is  marked  with  endless  dis- 
cussions, riots,  strikes,  and  also  with  arbitration  on  a 
large  or  a  small  scale,  or  conferences  between  the  em- 
ployer and  the  employed.  Each  one  of  these  powerful 
combatants  has,  at  certain  times,  stepped  to  extremes, 
and,  therefore,  has  been  censured  by  the  general  public. 

During  the  disputes  of  the  past,  justice  suffered 
many  a  blow,  because  certain  leaders  of  Capital  and 
Labor,  each  in  their  turn,  worshipped  the  god  of  sel- 
fishness under  the  light  of  a  false  star,  and  yet,  amid 
all  this,  the  great  cause  of  human  rights  has  forged 
ahead,  and  its  devotees  are  steadily  climbing  the  steps 
to  the  summit  of  the  mount  of  victory.  The  social 
question  is  the  monumental  question  of  the  age,  and 
certain  captains  of  industry  and  labor  chiefs  are  free 
in  expressing  their  opinions  as  to  the  best  methods  of 
settling  it.  There  are,  also,  not  a  few  radicals  on  each 
side  who  are  extraordinary  in  their  utterances,  while 
there  are  only  a  few,  comparatively,  who  look  care- 
fully at  both  sides,  and  with  the  Golden  Eule  in  sight, 
offer  a  solution  to  the  great  question* 


24        THE  ARMY  OF  LABOR  AGAINST  CAPITAL. 

There  never  was  a  time  since  man^s  creation  when 
the  Golden  Kule,  as  taught  by  Christ,  should  be  prac- 
ticed more  than  now.  If  there  is  to  be  any  solution 
that  will  last,  it  must  be  worked  out  on  the  basis  of 
each  doing  to  the  other  as  he  would  like  to  have  the 
other  do  to  him.  When  this  Eule  operates,  love  in- 
creases, and  also,  as  love  increases,  this  Eule  will  be 
observed. 

The  Devil  aims  to  destroy  the  influence  of  this  beau- 
tiful and  powerful  rule,  both  in  the  church  and  in 
the  world,  for  he  knows  that  when  it  becomes  opera- 
tive, earth  gradually  becomes  more  and  more  like 
heaven. 

II.— THE  SOLVING  OF  OTHER  GREAT 
QUESTIONS. 

Great  problems  are  not  solved  in  a  few  years,  but 
they  require  some  sacrifice,  and  often  long  years  of 
patience  and  struggle.  Over  nineteen  hundred  years 
ago,  the  leading  thought  of  the  world  was  Redemption. 
In  all  civilized  localities  the  pulse  of  this  living  issue 
was  felt,  and  it  made  kings  tremble  on  their  thrones. 
There  was  a  feeling  of  unrest  as  the  great  elements  of 
power  by  the  miracle  working  Christ  became  known, 
and  the  world  soon  awoke  to  learn  that  a  mighty 
Prince  was  in  their  midst,  and  that  Redemption  was 
at  hand. 

About  five  hundred  years  ago,  the  world  was  again 
turned  upside  down  by  an  imusual  revolution.  It  was 
the  question  of  liberty  in  church  and  state.  The  burn- 
ing of  John  Huss  kindled  the  fires  of  enthusiasm  all 
over  Europe,    Luther  caught  some  of  this  flame,  and 


THE  ABMY  OF  LABOR  AGAINST  CAPITAL.        25 

he  dashed  forth  as  a  hero  of  his  times.  The  same  enthu- 
siasm burned  in  the  soul  of  Savonarola.  It  also  moved 
the  heart  of  great  Cromwell,  and  nerved  his  arm  to 
strike  the  deadliest  blow  of  his  age ;  for  with  a  courage 
bom  of  high  conviction,  he  dashed  to  pieces  the  divine 
right  of  kings,  which  had  cursed  the  age  with  its  iron 
heel.  This  same  great  idea  of  liberty  moved  the  hearts 
of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers,  and  resulted  in  their  landing 
at  Plymouth  Eock,  thus  bringing  to  the  shores  of 
America  the  finest  blood  and  the  noblest  inspiration 
of  the  world. 

At  the  present  time,  there  are  other  great  questions 
to  be  settled,  such  as  Intemperance  and  the  question  of 
Divorce,  but  the  issue  that  is  pushing  itself  to  the  front 
for  first  consideration,  is  the  great  question  of  Social 
Reform.  Before  this  is  finally  settled,  humanity  may 
be  called  upon  to  go  through  a  more  severe  trial  than 
ever.  Perhaps  the  man  is  now  living  who  will  mar- 
shal the  labor  army  for  victory;  or  perhaps  there  is 
a  child  bom  into  the  world  to-day,  toward  whom  the 
guiding  star  is  now  moving,  and  who  may  be  the  real 
leader  of  the  world's  social  wisdom  to  the  Bethlehem  of 
Peace. 


The  specially  drawn  picture  on  the  op- 
posite page  is  a  strong  representation 
of  the  strife  between  Capital  and  Labor. 
For  many  ages  Labor  has  been  firing 
with  the  Guns  of  Legislation,  Arbitra- 
tion and  has  been  using  many  other  simi- 
lar weapons.  But  all  this  warfare  has 
not  won  enough  for  the  cause  of  Labor. 
The  strike  Gun  has  been  used  with  some 
effect  but  after  every  encounter  the  Fort 
of  Capital  has  been  able  to  repair  the 
damage  sufficiently  to  continue  its  severe 
campaign. 

The  leaders  of  Labor  have  long  ago 
urged  the  placing  of  a  new  Gun  into  posi- 
tion called  ** Ballots.'^  When  this  is  once 
swung  into  position,  it  will  have  a  deadly 
effect  on  the  opposition  and  will  win  the 
victory  for  Labor.  Just  how  long  it  will 
take  the  workingmen  to  get  this  Gun  into 
proper  action,  no  one  can  tell,  but  ac- 
cording to  present  indications,  this  will 
soon  be  accomplished. 


26 


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CHAPTER  II. 


I.— LABOR  AND  IDLENESS. 

Labor  is  of  divine  origin,  and  no  man  should  be 
ashamed  that  he  is  a  workman.  It  is  necessary  for  the 
perpetuation  of  the  human  family  that  certain  work  be 
performed,  and  the  greater  the  civilization  of  the  peo- 
ple, the  greater  variety  of  labor  there  will  be  to  do. 
Carlyle  has  well  said:  **In  all  true  work,  *  *  *  there 
is  something  of  divineness."  Listen  also  to  the  beauti- 
ful words  of  Dr.  A.  T.  Wolf,  ** Labor  is  honorable; 
God  has  set  his  seal  upon  it.  Jesus  Christ,  the  world's 
Saviour,  was  a  carpenter.  Paul,  the  great  apostle, 
was  a  tent  maker.  To-day,  every  male  member  of  the 
German  Royal  Family  learns  a  trade.  The  laboring 
man  is  thy  brother.'* 

The  Creator  intended  that  man  should  be  engaged 
in  useful  work.  He  made  Adam,  and  put  him  into  the 
Garden  of  Eden  to  dress  and  to  keep  it;  and  not  merely 
to  eat  and  idle  his  time  away.    All  the  righteous  labor 


29 


30  THE  DIGNITY  OP  LABOB. 

of  man  is  the  indirect  creation  of  God,  and  is  honored 
by  Him.  Although  man  does  not  win  his  redemption 
by  natural  or  spiritual  work  alone,  yet  in  order  to  be 
a  subject  for  Heaven,  he  must  be  a  worker  in  both 
spheres. 

Idleness  and  laziness  breed  poverty,  disease  and 
death,  and  are  contrary  to  the  best  state  of  man,  indi- 
vidually or  collectively.  In  the  wake  of  laziness,  you 
will  find  frivolity,  immorality,  crime  and  other  kindred 
evils. 

He  is  not  a  man  who  refuses  to  do  his  share  of  work, 
and  he  who  is  able  to  work  and  will  not  work,  is  the 
lowest  kind  of  a  slave,  and  the  greatest  enemy  to  hu- 
man welfare.  The  most  worthless  and  thriftless 
classes  of  all  humanity  are  found  in  the  idlers  at  the 
two  extremes  of  society.  The  one  class  is  composed  of 
the  ranging  tramps,  forever  evading  work,  and  the 
other  is  that  arrogant  aristocracy  that  idly  rolls  in 
luxury  through  money  obtained  by  speculation,  extor- 
tion or  inheritance. 

It  was  a  healthy  piece  of  advice  that  the  Scotch  doc- 
tor gave  to  a  wealthy  lady.  She  was  really  not  afflicted 
with  any  disease,  and  yet  she  thought  she  needed  the 
doctor's  attention,  so  it  was  easy  and  safe  to  prescribe 
for  her.  One  day  she  complained  of  insomnia,  and  the 
doctor,  losing  patience,  said:  ** Madam,  if  you  would 
have  a  good  night's  rest,  you  must  live  on  sixpence  a 
day  and  earn  it.''  So  we  would  advise  all  worthless 
idlers  to  earn  what  they  eat,  for  in  so  doing,  they  shall 
have  a  new  life  of  happiness  and  contentment. 


THE  DIGNITY  OF  LABOB.  31 

II.— GENEEAL  STATEMENTS  CONCERNING 
LABOR. 

1. — At  J.  Gbades  of  Labob  abe  Honobable. 

No  manly  mian  will  say  that  his  fellow  ^s  work  is 
menial  or  degrading.  When  a  man  is  engaged  in  use- 
ful toil,  he  is  in  harmony  with  nature  and  nature's 
God,  and  is  in  the  ascending  scale  as  far  as  natural 
forces  are  concerned.  The  kinds  of  labor  range  from 
the  lowest  and  simplest  forms  to  the  most  complicated 
and  sublime.  The  unskilled  laborer,  when  he  performs 
his  work  to  the  best  of  his  ability,  stands  on  a  worthy 
platform  with  the  skilled  mechanic.  The  work  of  the 
latter  demands  greater  wages,  and  is  looked  upon  as 
more  refined,  which  is  only  natural  under  the  circum- 
stances. 

The  pathway  to  skilled  labor  is  open  to  all  who  feel 
themselves  capable  of  attaining  to  it,  and  no  one  can 
say  that  he  is  restricted  by  custom  or  caste.  It  is  cer- 
tain that  the  man  who  gives  his  hands  and  brain  to  the 
higher  types  of  toil,  forfeits  our  respect  for  his  man- 
hood when  he  scorns  the  one  who  is  engaged  in  some 
simpler  kind  of  work,  which  may  be  as  essential  to  the 
well-being  of  mankind  as  the  other. 

The  dignity  of  Labor  demands  that  there  should  be 
no  rivalry  between  the  different  kinds  of  laborers,  for 
he  who  works  with  his  brains,  and  he  who  works  with 
his  muscle,  are  fellow  brothers.  It  is  proper  to  give 
credit  to  any  man  or  woman  who,  by  special  endeavor, 
rises  from  the  lower  to  the  higher  forms  of  labor.  If 
any  person  should  become  d'jtinguished  above  the 
humbler  worker,  he  ought  not  to  incur  the  envy  of  his 


32  THE  DIGNITY  OF  LABOB. 

humbler  brother,  inasmuch  as  the  more  complicated 
work  requires  a  longer  and  more  careful  preparation, 
and  all  such  investments  should  have  a  just  recompense 
of  reward.  There  should  be  no  brakes  pressed  upon 
the  wheels  of  human  advancement,  and  each  one  should 
have  the  best  opportunity  for  the  fullest  development 
of  his  mental  and  physical  powers. 

2. — Labor  Furnishes  a  Means  of  Support. 

After  all  is  considered,  perhaps  the  most  dignified 
thing  about  Labor  is,  that  it  provides  an  honorable 
means  of  support  to  the  laborer,  and  from  this  we 
argue  that  he  who  toils  should  receive  his  full  share  of 
the  product  of  his  labor.  The  most  undignified  thing 
about  Labor  is,  that  the  laborer  applies  too  much  of 
his  energy  to  fill  the  purse  of  the  magnate.  He  must 
work,  in  some  cases,  ten  or  more  hours  a  day,  and  then 
receive  no  more  than  he  has  earned  in  half  that  time. 
He  is  the  common  tool  of  human  greed,  and  from  this 
condition  he  has  thus  far  not  been  able  to  escape ;  there- 
fore. Labor  has  come  to  be  looked  upon  as  a  disgrace. 
This  should  continue  no  longer,  but  as  quickly  as  pos- 
sible, each  one  should  be  called  upon  to  do  his  share  of 
work,  and  thereby  make  the  labor  of  all  much  lighter, 
and  the  act  of  labor  itself  more  honorable. 

3. — Labor  is  a  Great  Source  of  All  True  Value. 

Labor  has  created  much  of  the  glorious  wealth  of 
the  world,  and  is  worthy  of  special  recognition.  Who 
but  the  worker  is  a  more  important  factor  in  creating 
the  millions  of  dollars  that  go  into  the  hands  of  the 


THE  DIGNITY   OF   LABOR.  33' 

employer  ?  And  yet,  he  is  the  least  considered  of  all  the 
agencies  employed.  The  horse,  the  donkey,  the  cart, 
the  machinery,  and  all  else  are  cared  for  and  main- 
tained with  more  decency  and  respectability  than  the 
laborer  himself. 

Physical  and  mental  labor  are  the  true  sources  of  all 
material  and  immaterial  wealth.  Through  these  agen- 
cies the  mind  is  enriched  to  know  and  enjoy  the  beauti- 
ful and  ideal.  The  kind  of  material  wealth  that  comes 
by  labor  and  careful  economy  to  any  individual,  is  not 
the  kind  that  endangers  society  the  most,  but  that 
which  comes  by  speculation  and  exploitation  of  Labor, 
enriching  one  at  the  expense  of  many.  In  this  cruel 
manner  numerous  workers  have  an  indirect  share  in 
the  creation  of  the  wealth  of  the  great  magnates  of  our 
country,  but  they  hold  no  legal  claim  to  that  share.  It 
is  diverted  from  them  by  certain  powers  which  these 
magnates  possess. 

We  cannot  expect  that  this  condition  will  be  im- 
proved so  long  as  a  man  or  a  corporation  manages  its 
business  under  a  banner  of  the  largest  possible  profit 
with  the  least  investment.  Any  man  or  corporation  is 
a  moral  law-breaker  when  he  regards  not  the  good  will 
of  society  and  the  well-being  of  his  employees. 

4. — Labor  is  a  Giant  Capable  of  Euling. 

Without  Labor,  nearly  all  other  agencies  would  be 
ineffective.  Even  the  great  forces  of  Capitalism  would 
be  powerless  without  this  important  factor.  If  the 
real  situation  were  described,  it  would  be  said  that 
Labor  employs  Capital  more  than  Capital  employs 
Labor.    The  reason  this  is  not  true  in  fact,  is  because 


34  THE  DIGNITY   OF  LABOK. 

the  mass  of  laborers  are  unconscious  of  their  power 
and  privileges. 

When  all  is  considered,  it  will  be  seen  that  Labor  is 
more  important  in  human  affairs  than  the  students  of 
political  economy  have  admitted.  It  is  being  shown 
more  clearly  every  age  that  even  the  lowest  aims  of  the 
magnate  cannot  be  reached  without  the  help  of  the 
worker.  It  is  therefore  evident  that  one  class  is  de- 
pendent upon  the  other,  and  that  Labor  has  been 
tricked  into  slavery  by  methods  that  appear  more  ter- 
rible the  more  we  know  of  them. 

III.— WHAT  THE  DIGNITY  OF  LABOR 
DEMANDS. 

1. — The  Laboker  Should  Receive  Fair  Treatment. 

The  dignity  of  Labor  demands  that  the  laborer 
should  be  treated  in  the  spirit  of  love  and  justice.  If 
love  were  at  the  helm,  justice  might  be  enjoyed  by 
those  on  board  the  ship.  Each  one  seems  to  be  strug- 
gling for  as  much  as  he  can  get,  and  because  the  Capi- 
talist has  much  money  he  also  has  much  power,  and 
this  is  too  often  used  to  crush  the  employed.  At  times 
we  see  covetousness,  greed,  and  poverty  raising  their 
grasping  hands,  and,  disregarding  the  miseries  and 
sufferings  of  a  large  army  of  workers,  rob  them  with- 
out mercy.  In  such  instances  Capital  is  receiving  more 
than  its  just  share  of  the  fruits  of  Labor,  and  as  time 
passes,  the  laborer  is  receiving  relatively  less  and  less. 
It  is  therefore  seen  that  Capital  and  Labor,  left  to 
themselves,  are  carrying  on  a  cruel  war  of  misery  and 
death,  and  no  one  can  doubt  that  we  need  legislation 
to  control  both  parties  and  grant  to  each  his  rights. 


the  dignity  of  labor.  35 

2. — Laborers  Have  a  Right  to  Combine  for  Mutual 
Protection. 

The  dignity  of  Labor  also  demands  that  the  laborers 
are  justified  in  combining  their  forces  for  mutual  pro- 
tection. The  initiative  must  be  taken  by  the  workers 
themselves,  and,  therefore,  they  have  organized  their 
forces  and  have  shown  what  a  formidable  host  they 
are.  It  is  a  case  of  China  awakening  out  of  sleep  to  see 
how  large  she  is,  and  how  strong  she  might  be  wheru 
order  and  system  once  rule  her  brain  and  muscle.  So 
the  hosts  of  Labor  have  come  to  see  that  they  have  all 
power  in  their  hands,  if  they  can  only  find  a  way  to 
manifest  it.  The  worker  is  gradually  seeing  that  the 
problem  is  not  easy  of  solution,  and  no  one  seems  to  be 
able  to  suggest  a  plan  that  the  whole  army  of  workers 
is  willing  to  adopt.  Yet  each  struggle  is  a  step  toward 
the  end,  and  the  army  of  workers,  even  at  the  cost  of 
mistakes  and  blunders,  will  continue  their  agitations, 
and  push  their  campaign  until  they  reach  some  Water- 
loo or  Gettysburg,  where  their  decisive  battle  will  be 
fought,  and  the  cause  of  Labor  win  its  day.  Till  then, 
all  hearts  must  be  patient,  and  every  soul  be  in  earnest, 
willing  to  suffer,  if  need  be.  until  the  day  of  redemp- 
tion is  at  hand. 


CHAPTER  in. 


L— AGE  OF  SLAVERY. 


It  is  interesting  and  profitable  to  review  the  history 
of  Labor  as  it  has  developed  in  the  different  ages 
of  the  world.  To  study  the  earliest  phases  of  the  la- 
borer is  tedious  and  somewhat  uninteresting.  It  is 
enough  to  say  that  long  ago  people  worked  for  hire, 
and  that  gradually  slavery  was  introduced  in  a  natural 
way.  Instead  of  victors  killing  their  captives,  they 
used  the  wiser  plan  of  holding  them  as  slaves.  This 
custom  of  slavery,  instead  of  decreasing,  grew  in  favor 
until  it  became  the  general  order  in  nearly  all  the  civ- 
ilized nations  before  the  time  of  Christ. 

In  Egypt  the  nobles  and  the  priests  were  the  ruling 
classes,  and  these  were  forbidden  to  work.  Agricul- 
tural and  pastoral  work  was  performed  by  slaves.  In 
its  later  history,  when  the  slaves  were  too  few  to  at- 
tend to  the  regular  work,  in  addition  to  the  building  of 
the  pyramids,  the  armies  of  Egypt  forced  their  way 

36 


LABOR  IN   THE  LIGHT  OF  THE  AGES.  37 

into  Asia  and  Ethiopia,  capturing  large  numbers  of 
foreigners  and  forced  them  into  slavery. 

In  the  palmy  days  of  Greece,  slavery  was  very  popu- 
lar. It  is  a  strange  part  of  history  to  learn  how  the 
number  of  slaves  was  increased  under  the  power  of  the 
ruling  classes.  Piracy,  kidnapping  and  exportation 
were  all  brought  into  service,  until  the  number  of  slaves 
was  nearly  seventy-five  per  cent,  of  the  total  male  popu- 
lation. This  condition  and  custom  had  a  powerful  in- 
fluence upon  the  famous  men  of  that  time,  whose  minds 
were  so  warped  that  they  deliberately  argued  in  favor 
of  slavery.  Even  the  immortal  Aristotle  openly  taught 
that  those  who  performed  manual  labor  were  in  dis- 
grace, and  should  not  be  entitled  to  citizenship.  Upon 
a  close  reading  of  the  old  philosophers,  we  find  that 
Plato,  Cicero,  Cato  and  others,  reasoned  along  the 
same  line.  Such  was  the  dark  and  hopeless  condition 
of  the  poor  slaves,  who  had  no  possible  chance  of  self- 
defense,  inasmuch  as  they  were  not  permitted  to  enjoy 
social  or  political  privileges,  and,  therefore,  could  not 
legislate  or  combine  for  mutual  interest. 

Rome  was  no  exception;  her  conquests  and  treat- 
ment of  the  enslaved  rather  added  to  the  terrors  of 
slavery.  Her  armies  were  so  powerful  that  they  were 
able  to  capture  in  war  large  numbers  of  men,  and  like 
Egypt  reduce  them  to  servitude.  According  to  the 
Encyclopedia  Britannica,  Dr.  Ingram  says  that  Caesar 
sold  on  a  single  occasion  in  Gaul  63,000  captives ;  Au- 
gustus made  44,000  prisoners  in  the  country  of  Sal- 
lassi;  after  immense  numbers  had  perished  by  famine 
and  hardship,  and  in  the  combats  of  the  Arena,  97,000 
slaves  were  acquired  by  the  Jewish  War. 


38  LABOR  IN   THE  LIGHT  OF  THE  AGES. 

When  Rome  required  a  larger  number  of  slaves  to 
fill  the  ranks  of  her  armies,  she  resorted  to  methods 
similar  to  those  of  Greece  to  swell  the  servile  ranks,  and 
it  is  estimated,  on  safe  authority,  that  at  one  time 
nearly  three-fourths  of  the  population  were  slaves. 
The  slave  masters  lost  more  and  more  the  humane  feel- 
ing, and  certain  slaves  were  treated  worse  than  dogs. 
Some  of  the  field  hands  worked  and  slept  in  chains,  and 
those  who  became  sick,  were  cast  out  to  die.  They 
worked  under  the  lash  and  were  guarded  by  soldiers, 
and  were  compelled  to  yield  to  the  bestial  and  sensual 
instincts  of  the  masters. 


II.— THE  DAWN  AND  REIGN  OF  FEUDALISM. 

The  foregoing  is  the  painful  picture  of  a  large  part 
of  the  world  when  Jesus  was  born  in  Bethlehem  of 
Judea.  He  was  the  new  Light  and  new  Power  that  was 
to  set  men  free  from  the  natural  and  spiritual  bondage 
in  which  they  were  suffering.  With  the  spread  of  Chris- 
tianity, there  came  a  loftier  idea  of  Labor,  and  men 
were  taught  that  every  other  man  is  his  brother.  Facts 
-for  full  volumes  could  easily  be  gathered  to  show  how 
the  chains  fell  from  men  as  fast  as  the  new  teaching 
touched  the  consciences  of  the  nations. 

The  next  advance  in  the  history  of  Labor  was  from 
slavery  to  serfdom,  or  a  condition  of  half  liberty.  This 
was  only  a  step  toward  the  better  life,  and,  in  some 
respects,  a  small  step;  but,  nevertheless  essential,  as 
it  is  impossible  to  transform  society  in  one  bound.  The 
serfs  lived  in  poverty,  and  the  lords  were  their  mas- 
ters.   They  enjoyed  certain  rights,  but  the  privilege 


LABOR  IN   THE  LIGHT  OF  THE  AGES.  39 

to  advance  or  improve  themselves  was  carefully 
guarded,  and  the  possession  of  property  forbidden. 

It  was  on  such  a  foundation  that  Feudalism  lived 
and  flourished  during  some  of  the  darkest  centuries 
of  the  middle  ages.  Some  of  the  human  slaves  long 
looked  upward  for  liberty;  others  were  so  ignorant 
and  so  accustomed  to  their  tasks  that  they  were  like 
dumb  lambs  being  led  to  the  slaughter. 

The  next  period  of  development  was  ushered  in  by  a 
pressure  from  the  two  extremes  of  society;  the  influ- 
ence of  human  policy  and  righteousness  on  the  part 
of  masters,  and  the  combining  for  mutual  aid  and  pro- 
tection on  the  part  of  the  workers.  Eev.  Washington 
Gladden,  D.  D.,  says  of  this  period: — ^*The  workmen 
in  the  cities  first  won  their  freedom ;  afterwards,  their 
fellow-toilers  on  the  land  were  loosened  from  their 
bond.  Three  great  causes,  political,  economical  and  eth- 
ical conspired  for  their  deliverance.  *  *  *  The  Me- 
diaeval Church  with  all  her  sins  and  shortcomings  did 
speedily  and  mightily  decide  against  human  bondage.  *  * 
Arthur  Fairbanks  also  says  in  his  Introduction  to  So- 
ciology, **Thus  the  serf  was  trained  for  centuries  in 
the  school  of  partial  freedom,  till  at  length  the  power 
to  work  for  a  future  reward  was  a  greater  stimulus 
than  external  compulsion.  The  masters  gradually 
learned  that  hired  labor  was  more  profitable  than 
forced  labor,  and  the  principle  of  serfdom,  like  the 
principle  of  slavery  before  it,  gave  way  to  a  higher 
form  of  organization  for  production.'' 

It  was  a  happier  day  for  the  human  family  when 
serfdom  disappeared.  According  to  Dr.  Gladden,  serf- 
dom became  extinct  in  England  during  the  Fifteenth 
Century,  largely  through  the  teaching  of  John  Wyclif ; 


40  LABOB  IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  THE  AGES. 

in  France  it  lingered,  and  the  last  remnants  of  it  were 
swept  away  by  the  Revolution  of  1789 ;  in  Germany  it 
was  not  wholly  extirpated  when  the  Nineteenth  Cen- 
tury began ;  and  in  Russia  its  death  knell  was  sounded 
in  1861,  and  its  death  sentence  was  passed  recently. 

In  the  clamor  for  liberty  from  serfdom,  it  is  remark- 
able to  hear  the  sentiments  expressed  in  the  heat  of 
the  conflict.  The  cry  is  of  the  same  order  as  is  now 
heard  from  the  depressed  legions  of  wage-earners.  We 
insert  extracts  from  a  sermon  by  John  Ball : — 

*  *  Good  people,  things  will  never  go  well  in  England 
so  long  as  goods  be  not  in  common,  and  so  long  as  there 
be  villeins  (serfs)  and  gentlemen.  By  what  right  are 
they  whom  we  call  lords  greater  folk  than  we!  On 
what  grounds  have  they  deserved  it?  Why  do  they 
hold  us  in  serfage  ?  If  we  all  came  of  the  same  father 
and  mother,  of  Adam  and  Eve,  how  can  they  say  or 
prove  that  they  are  better  than  we,  if  it  be  not  that 
they  make  us  gain  for  them  by  our  toil  what  they 
spend  on  their  pride.  They  are  clothed  in  velvet,  and 
warm  in  their  furs  and  ermines,  while  we  are  covered 
with  rags.  They  have  wine  and  spices  and  fair  bread, 
and  we  oat-cake  and  straw,  and  water  to  drink.  They 
have  leisure  and  fine  houses ;  we  have  pain  and  labor, 
the  rain  and  the  wind  in  the  fields.  And  yet  it  is  of  us 
and  of  our  toil  that  these  men  hold  their  state. '  *  This 
is  one  of  the  many  quotations  that  might  be  given  to 
prove  the  trend  of  feeling  among  the  high  and  the  low 
serfs.  More  will  not  be  given,  and  we  need  but  say 
that  from  such  agitations  as  this  sprang  the  Peasant's 
Revolt,  which  was  apparently  a  failure  at  first,  but 
which  proved  to  be  the  seed  from  which  sprang  the 
tree  of  promise  and  blessmg.    Serfdom  went  down  and 


LABOR  IN   THE  LIGHT  OF  THE  AGES.  41 

a  larger  liberty  took  its  place;  thenceforth  the  work- 
ing man  could 

Live  where  he  desired; 
Select  his  own  occupation; 
Choose  his  own  employer. 

These  are  the  privileges  enjoyed  by  the  workers  un- 
der our  present  * '  Contract  System, ' '  which  is  one  more 
step  toward  the  worker's  emancipation.  Scarcely  any 
of  these  blessings  were  enjoyed  under  Feudalism  or 
Serfdom.  We  will  take  a  glimpse  at  the  world  of  La- 
bor under  the  reign  of  the  present  system. 

III.— OUR  PRESENT   CONTRACT  SYSTEM. 

The  next  step  in  the  progress  of  Labor,  as  heretofore 
mentioned,  is  called  the  Contract  System,  by  which  is 
meant,  that  the  laborer  is  to  work  for  wages  as  agreed 
between  himself  and  employer.  With  few  exceptions 
this  is  now  the  ruling  principle  in  all  civilized  countries 
of  the  world. 

We  are  now  standing  in  the  midst  of  modem  times, 
and  with  profit  could  study  the  history  of  any  one 
country,  but  England  presents  the  most  striking  exam- 
ple of  Labor  developments  as  seen  in  its  one-hundred- 
year-battle  between  the  employer  and  the  employed. 

The  rich  minority  became  fearful  of  the  laboring 
majority,  and  long  ago  they  commenced  to  influence 
legislation  against  the  laborer,  so  that  for  several  hun- 
dred years  the  statute  books  of  England  were  stained 
with  partial  legislation  against  the  worker.  One  of 
the  old  laws  made  it  illegal  for  workmen  to  combine, 


42  LABOR  IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  THE  AGES. 

and  at  one  time  this  offense  was  punishable  by  death. 
This  only  shows  the  extreme  to  which  the  law-making 
body  was  driven  by  the  Capitalists.  Old  laws  have 
been  repealed,  and  new  ones  more  favorable  to  the 
laboring  classes  have  been  substituted.  This  is  the 
story  of  a  hundred  years  in  England  ^s  history.  Jus- 
tice is  gradually  rising  to  the  throne,  and,  as  time  ad- 
vances, the  workers  will  continue  to  see  their  deliver- 
ance coming  nearer  and  nearer.  One  of  the  greatest 
victories  for  Labor  in  England,  was  the  passage  of  the 
British  Factory  Acts  in  1802.  Since  then,  the  oppres- 
sors of  Labor  have  been  compelled  to  yield  inch  by 
inch,  and  now  most  men  can  see  that  the  em- 
ployer and  the  employed  will  ultimately  be  on  the  com- 
mon basis  where  they  belong,  all  being  servants  of  the 
community. 

In  the  United  States,  events  are  following  fast  after 
the  order  of  England,  only  with  some  different  phases. 
The  last  fifty  years  has  witnessed  many  preliminary 
skirmishes,  all  preparatory  to  the  final  issue.  There 
has  been  more  legislation  against  Monopoly,  and  more 
organization  amongst  the  working  classes  in  the  past 
fifty  years  than  in  the  hundred  years  previous  to  that 
time. 

The  Contract  System  has  been  in  force  long  enough 
for  us  to  pass  an  opinion  on  its  merits  and  demerits. 
At  first  great  prosperity  was  enjoyed  by  all,  but  in 
course  of  time  the  evils  of  free  labor  became  apparent. 
The  pale  cheeks  and  wasted  forms  of  the  young  and 
old  as  they  tried  to  keep  pace  with  the  steel  muscles 
of  modern  machinery,  revealed  a  new  type  of  heartless- 
ness  on  the  part  of  the  masters,  and  a  new  kind  of 
slavery  on  the  part  of  the  workers. 


LABOR  IN  THE  LIGHT  OP  THE  AGES.  43 

We  will  show  later  in  this  book  the  part  that  selfish- 
ness and  competition  are  playing  in  this  frightful  mod- 
ern drama.  All  the  facts  at  hand  clearly  prove  that 
the  Contract  System  in  itself  is  not  the  final  solution 
of  the  Labor  question. 

IV.— THE  COMING  DELIVERANCE. 

And  here  we  are  in  the  glorious  light  of  the  Twen- 
tieth Century  which  gives  promise  of  great  and  good 
things  to  come.  We  must  take  one  side  or  the  other; 
we  must  join  ranks  with  Alexander  Hamilton,  who 
represented  the  rich  people  of  the  country  and  seemed 
to  have  but  little  concern  whether  the  struggling 
masses  of  workmen  ever  received  their  rights  or  not; 
or,  on  the  other  hand,  we  must  take  the  side  of  Thomas 
Jefferson,  who  advocated  the  grand  principles  of  hu- 
man brotherhood,  with  a  great  love  for  the  common 
people,  and  a  strong  desire  that  right  and  justice 
should  prevail  and  that  class  legislation  should  be  dis- 
couraged. 

The  cause  of  the  laborer  must  never  go  backward, 
since  what  is  enjoyed  has  been  purchased  at  so  great 
a  cost.  On  the  ruins  of  the  past,  we  will  now  build  un- 
til every  man  shall  consider  it  an  honor  to  work,  and 
every  worker  consider  it  an  honor  to  be  a  man. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

^e  0>ndtf/ono//Ae 

I.— INTRODUCTION. 

We  rejoice  in  the  advance  of  labor  from  slavery  and 
serfdom  to  the  present  condition,  and  hope  that  the 
more  complete  deliverance  of  the  worker  will  soon  be 
realized.  The  orator  frequently  soars  into  ecstasies 
over  the  privileges  of  the  American  workers  compared 
with  those  of  certain  other  countries.  This  is  allowable 
in  the  light  of  what  we  have  learned  of  the  down-trod- 
den in  many  parts  of  our  old  earth.  We  are  not  so 
much  concerned  about  what  the  worker  once  endured, 
nor  about  what  he  now  enjoys,  but  we  are  concerned 
about  the  rights  and  privileges  to  which  he  is  entitled, 
considering  that  he  is  a  man,  and  that  justice  should 
be  on  the  throne. 

In  a  general  sense,  nearly  all  men  work,  and  the  em- 
ployed are  composed  of  two  general  classes,  the  skilled 
and  the  unskilled.  In  this  chapter  we  shall  consider 
briefly  the  first  class. 

XL— THE  SKILLED  WORKER  VIEWED  IN  THE 
LIGHT  OF  REASON. 

Let  us  take  a  safe  and  candid  view  of  the  skilled 

44 


THE  CONDITION  OF  THE  SKILLED  WORKER.  45 

workers   in   the   United   States   under   our   present 
system. 

1. — Their  Wages  are  Gradually  Eeaching  the  Proper 

Limit. 

This  is  not  diie  to  accident  or  chance.  It  has  been 
the  result  of  long  and  persistent  effort  on  the  part  of 
the  workmen  themselves.  They  have  been  knocking 
at  the  door  of  the  employers  a  long  time,  and  much  has 
been  gained  by  their  humble  petitions,  and  still  more 
by  their  organizations,  strikes,  boycotts  and  other 
similar  means.  These  latter  modes  of  attack  have 
clearly  revealed  the  peculiar  difficulties  under  which 
the  ordinary  employer  is  struggling.  It  is  seen  that 
he  is  also  bound  under  a  galling  yoke,  and  very  fre- 
quently cannot  do  what  he  would  wish  to  do  for  his  em- 
ployees. The  main  trouble  lies  at  the  door  of  our 
present  Social  condition.  Great  forces  are  very  often 
operating  to  destroy  the  plans  and  wishes  of  the  small 
employer. 

The  war  of  the  skilled  workers  against  corporate 
greed  has  brought  to  light  startling  facts  concerning 
the  methods  of  Trusts  and  Monopolies  and  their  fear- 
ful extortion.  It  is  frequently  found  that  large  cor- 
porations make,  as  a  profit  on  each  worker,  from  one 
to  three  times  as  much  as  the  worker  receives  for 
wages.  It  is  not  to  be  expected  that  the  skilled  worker 
will  ever  reach  a  satisfactory  state  in  regard  to  his 
wages.  If  it  does  happen  that  he  receives  a  large  com- 
pensation at  one  time,  then  will  follow  either  scarcity 
of  work  or  sickness  or  some  other  unwelcome  stroke. 

But  wages  do  not  count  for  everything;  even  if  the 


46  THE  CONDITION  OF  THE  SKILLED  WOBKEB. 

wage  question  could  be  settled  forever,  there  are  many 
other  unsatisfactory  conditions  resulting  from  the 
present  indefinite  Contract  System.  This  opens  the 
way  for  the  consideration  of  the  next  fact. 

2. — Skilled  Wokkebs  as  a  Class  abe  Refined  Slaves. 

This  is  a  strong  term,  but  is,  nevertheless  true,  as 
applied  to  the  masses  of  trades  people  and  professional 
men.  They  are  living  under  the  banner  of  independ- 
ence; but,  in  reality,  are  slaves  to  their  environment. 
Some  of  these  men  are  struggling  for  a  home;  others 
are  straining  every  nerve  to  gain  a  fortune ;  they  are 
in  the  mad  race  that  carries  so  many  of  the  human 
family  into  the  horrors  of  suicide,  or  into  a  grave  of 
premature  death.  The  general  competition  among  pro- 
fessional men  makes  life  well-nigh  unbearable.  The 
fault  of  all  this  is  the  evil  social  state  under  which  we 
live,  which  coaxes  a  man  of  reasonable  prosperity  into 
the  expenditure  of  all  his  power.  No  master  on  the 
plantation  could  whip  him  into  so  much  effort,  not  even 
under  the  threat  of  death  could  he  be  compelled  onward 
as  he  is  under  his  ruling  ambition  for  power  or  wealth. 

Why  all  this  strain,  this  unnatural  rush,  this  human 
slavery  beyond  description?  The  answer  comes  from 
the  feeble  and  dying,  and  tells  us  the  secret  of  our 
present  competitive  system.  If  all  men  could  be  as- 
sured that  as  long  as  the  earth  can  yield  enough  to  feed 
mankind,  no  one  should  suffer  for  the  necessaries  of 
life,  there  would  prevail  a  new  ruling  ambition,  and 
the  early  old  age  of  the  human  race  would  be  largely 
cut  off.  In  looking  at  the  general  aspect  of  the  skilled 
workers  we  find  that : 


the  condition  of  the  skilled  wobkeb.  47 

3. — They  abb  Handicapped  Thbee-fold  : 

(1) — The  Needs  of  Civilized  Life  Increase  More 
Rapidly  Than  Wages, 

This  is  a  most  embarrassing  situation  and  always 
creates  restlessness.  We  have  admitted  that  the  wages 
have  increased  in  the  past  hundred  years,  with  a  fre- 
quent backward  step;  but  during  this  same  period  of 
time,  there  have  been  such  advancements  in  every 
branch  of  knowledge,  and  human  life  has  been  so  in- 
creasingly complicated,  that  the  demands  upon  the 
head  of  the  family  are  much  more  now  than  they  had 
been  before.  We  have,  happily,  risen  above  the  low 
idea  that  a  man  needs  only  enough  to  keep  his  body  in 
a  fairly  healthy  condition  so  that  he  can  go  to  work 
again  the  next  day.  The  worker  can  no  longer  be  per- 
suaded that  he  is  not  entitled  to  certain  comforts,  con- 
veniences, and  luxuries,  and  he  will  never  be  satis- 
fied until  he  can  enjoy  his  share  of  these  privileges. 

(2)  The  skilled  worker  is  supplied  with  better  tools 
and  receives  better  treatment,  but  he  is  at  the  mercy  of 
a ''boss/' 

When  we  say  *  *  at  the  mercy  of  a  boss,  *  ^  we  mean  that 
he  may  be  suspended  from  work  for  a  day,  a  week  or 
more,  or  that  he  can  be  discharged  at  pleasure,  or 
sharply  rebuked  for  any  real  or  imaginary  offense. 
This  is  not  true  in  each  individual  case,  nor  in  certain 
localities.  It  is  argued  that  a  man  needs  a  *^boss,"  to 
which  no  objection  can  be  offered ;  but  the  diflficulty,  as 
we  now  have  it,  is  that  the  worker  is  beneath  the 
**boss,"  and  the  **boss"  is  often  surly,  dictatorial,  un- 
reasonable and  inconsiderate  of  the  happiness  or  well- 
being  of  the  employees,  and  according  to  Gronlund 


48  THE  CONDITION  OF  THE  SKILLED  WORKEB. 

**This  relation  becomes  absolutely  unbearable  if,  as 
very  often  is  the  case,  the  employee  has  more  knowl- 
edge, more  brains,  a  fuller  head  in  short,  than  his  em- 
ployer. '  * 

(3)  The  sacrifices  and  sufferings  of  the  skilled 
worker  are  magnified  through  contrast  with  the  unlim- 
ited and  unearned  wealth  of  the  rich. 

Although  the  skilled  worker  is  not  receiving  the 
hardest  blow  from  the  capitalist's  lash,  yet  he  realizes 
more  keenly  every  week  of  his  life  that  the  rich  are 
growing  richer  and  the  poor,  poorer.  This  refers  to 
the  relative  rather  than  the  absolute  condition  of  the 
two  classes. 

We  learn  from  the  latest  statistics  that  there  are  one 
hundred  persons  in  our  country  having  a  total  wealth 
of  about  $3,600,000,000.  This  is  startling  enough,  but 
is  not  quite  so  alarming  as  to  think  that  one  seventy- 
fifth  of  our  population  holds  in  its  grip  two-thirds  of 
the  wealth  of  the  entire  nation.  If  this  condition  could 
remain  stationary  no  doubt  the  working  people  would 
be  willing  to  suffer  the  present  ills  they  have,  and  not 
dream  of  greater  evils  to  come ;  but  under  the  system  of 
investment  by  the  millionaires,  it  is  only  a  matter  of 
time  when  the  great  lords  of  finance  will  practically 
own  the  earth.  It  is  both  strange  and  satirically  amus- 
ing that  the  masses  of  people  can  be  induced  to  remain 
the  slaves  of  the  human  kings  in  a  free  country. 

The  skilled  worker  who  has  served  years  of  appren- 
ticeship, and  who  is  bound  down  to  certain  hours  of 
employment,  feels  as  if  something  is  wrong  when  the 
fruits  of  his  labor  are  turned  from  his  own  comfort 
and  his  own  family  to  swell  the  fat  treasuries  of  rich 
individuals  and  rich  corporations.  Is  it  a  wonder  that 


THE  CONDITION  OF  THE  SKILLED  WOBKER.  49 

he  is  still  dissatisfied,  even  with  a  certain  increase  of 
wages  that  has  come  to  him?  If  the  truth  were  prop- 
erly stated,  it  would  be  said,  that  while  he  is  support- 
ing his  own  family,  he  is,  at  the  same  time,  earning 
enough  to  support  one  or  two  other  families.  This  addi- 
tional money  he  does  not  get,  neither  does  he  expect 
to  get  it,  because  of  the  fearful  dilemma  into  which 
Monopoly  has  thrust  him. 


CHAPTER  V. 


0^ 


I.— A  GENEEAL  GLIMPSE. 

If  one  wish  to  see  the  greater  sufferings  of  the 
working  people,  he  must  look  into  the  unskilled  ranks. 
It  is  from  this  class  that  the  greatest  wail  of  distress 
rises  heavenward,  and  the  greatest  number  of  discon- 
tented are  found.  In  the  United  States  there  are  in 
round  numbers  10,000,000  poor  families,  and  to  the 
door  of  several  millions  of  these,  the  cruel  wolf  has  al- 
ready come.  The  story  of  want,  poverty  and  wretch- 
edness, as  witnessed  in  these  unfortunate  abodes,  is 
terrible  to  relate. 

Books  have  been  written  on  the  subject  of  poverty 
by  Walter  A.  Wycoff,  I.  K.  Friedman,  Robert  Hunter, 
Jacob  A.  Riis,  Mrs.  Lillian  Betts,  and  a  host  of  others, 
to  say  nothing  of  the  magazine  articles  and  the  flashes 

60 


THE  CONDITION  OF  THE  UNSKILLED  WOBKER.  51 

in  the  public  press.  This  has  awakened  public  senti- 
ment to  some  extent,  and  yet,  with  all  this,  the  general 
condition  of  the  lower  classes  is  but  little  improved. 

Taking  a  glimpse  of  the  United  States  alone, — in 
that  vast  army  of  unskilled  workers,  composed  of  a 
larger  number  than  could  be  found  in  any  army  that 
ever  moved  on  the  face  of  the  earth, — we  are  strongly 
reminded  of  the  sentiments  expressed  in  Edwin  Mark- 
ham's  famous  poem,  **The  man  with  the  hoe.''  Some 
of  the  army  are  far  in  advance  of  the  others,  both  as 
to  skill  in  labor  and  general  intelligence. 

TI.— THE  CONDITION  OF  THE  UNSKILLED 
WORKEE. 

1. — His  Condition  is  One  of  Slaveby. 

This  slavery  is  not  exactly  the  kind  under  which  the 
negro  suffered,  but  a  kind  that  brings  with  it  more  em- 
barrassment, and  more  humiliation  and  mental  suffer- 
ing than  any  class  of  honest  workers  should  be  called 
upon  to  endure.  According  to  the  civil  law  and  the 
law  of  human  love,  the  unskilled  worker  is  duty  bound 
to  support  himself  and  family,  and  when  he  finds  at  the 
end  of  his  week  of  severe  toil  that  his  earnings  are  in- 
sufficient to  pay  the  various  debts  incurred,  he  must 
of  necessity  feel  discouraged.  Who  can  then  picture 
his  hours  of  anxiety,  most  especially  so  when  he  has  no 
bright  outlook  for  the  future.  Many  men  who  are  in 
this  condition,  finally  become  indifferent  concerning 
their  increasing  debts  and  are  branded  as  dishonest, 
and  others,  through  dishonesty  from  the  beginning, 
make  themselves  eligible  to  the  grade  of  rascality. 


62  THE  CONDITION  OF  THE  UNSKILLED  WOBKER. 

Some  become  dishonest  through  poverty,  and  others 
become  poor  through  dishonesty. 

A  man  is  a  little  better  than  a  slave  when  he  must 
toil  laboriously  for  ten  or  more  hours  each  day,  just 
for  a  bare  subsistence  for  himself  and  his  family.  It 
is  an  insult  to  declare  that  such  a  man  is  free  when  his 
environments  and  circumstances  crush  him  more  than 
a  master's  whip.  We  will  add  these  stinging  lines  of 
Stanley  Fitzpatrick ;  they  are  worthy  of  study. 

*^The  negro's  free,  but  in  his  place 
The  wage-slave  bows  his  haggard  face, 
The  power  of  gold  holds  full  control. 
It  owns  its  victim's  life  and  soul; 
It  owns  the  mother,  woe-worn,  wild. 
Who  cannot  feed  her  starving  child; 
It  owns  the  woman,  gaunt  and  thin. 
By  want  dragged  down  to  ways  of  sin ; 
It  owns  the  masses  of  toiling  men ; 
It  fills  each  lowest,  vilest  den. 
Where  vice  and  crime,  where  sin  and  shame 
Are  stamped  on  souls  with  brands  of  flame. 

* '  It  gives  the  low  the  power  to  rule, 
The  toiling  millions  but  their  tool — 
The  helpless  tool  of  cunning  knaves 
Who  make  free  men  their  cringing  slaves. 
The  sons  of  toil  who  should  be  free, 
Yet  bend  to  gold  their  servile  knee. 
And  cast  their  eyes  in  silence  down 
Before  a  master's  haughty  frown. 


THE  CONDITION  OF  THE  UNSKILLED  WORKER.  53 

**0,  men  of  toil,  on  sea  and  land, 
Who  feel  the  tyrant's  iron  hand, 
No  longer  yield  your  manhood  up. 
And  groaning  drink  the  bitter  cup 
While  your  taskmasters  wring  from  you 
The  just  reward  to  labor  due ! 
Ye  are  not  babes,  but  men  full  grown — 
Arise  and  take  what  is  your  own. 
The  negro's  free  on  Southern  plains; 
Let  white  wage-slaves  now  break  their  chains.'* 

2. — The  Condition  of  the  More  Unfortunate  Class 

OF  Unskilled  Workers  is  One  of 

Suffering  and  Misery. 

The  severe  demands  of  the  employer  or  capitalist 
make  it  hard  enough  for  the  strong  and  able-bodied 
workers,  but  our  heart  shrinks  in  terror  as  we  see 
that  the  survival  of  the  fittest  has  crushed  the  more 
unfit  of  the  unskilled  workers  so  far  down  that  their 
condition  is  one  of  hopeless  despair.  We  will  draw  the 
curtain  aside  and  take  a  passing  glimpse  of  the  hordes 
of  the  *^ unfit"  human  wretches  who  grovel  under  the 
hand  of  Greed  and  under  the  power  of  their  own  sin. 

Why  are  these  miserables  unfit?  No  doubt  three 
great  causes  are,  intemperance,  lust  and  crime.  These 
will  not  be  considered  at  this  time,  and  if  we  were  to 
consider  them,  we  could  show  that  to  some  extent  these 
curses  are  the  result  of  poverty  as  well  as  the  cause 
of  it. 

Some  workmen  are  unfit  because  of  their  inferior 
skill.  We  are  not  referring  to  the  shirker,  but  to  the 
honest  worker  who  is  not  endowed  with  the  same 


54  THE  CONDITION  OF  THE  UNSKILLED  WOKKER. 

advantages  as  his  fellow  brother,  and  who,  by  putting 
forth  his  best  efforts,  is  still  inferior.  His  is  a  hard 
lot.  He  suffers  embarrassment  not  only  from  his  em- 
ployer, but  from  his  fellow  workmen.  It  takes  just  as 
much  to  keep  him  alive  as  the  other  man,  although  he 
must  receive  much  less  for  his  labor. 

Other  workmen  are  unfit  through  peculiar  circum- 
stances. One  of  the  most  painful  pictures  of  human 
life  is  to  see  a  number  of  dependent  children  clinging 
to  their  widowed  mother,  who  is  slaving  at  the  wash- 
tub,  so  she  need  not  farm  out  her  children,  or  force 
them  early  into  the  factory.  This  is  the  *^unkindest 
cut  of  all.'*  When  will  the  poor  widow  receive  just 
treatment  from  the  state?  It  can  hardly  be  expected 
under  our  present  system. 

There  are  also  many  husbands  who  are  compelled 
by  circumstances  to  remain  away  from  work;  it  may 
be  a  sickly  wife  or  child,  or  some  other  cause  beyond 
their  control.  At  such  times  their  expenses  are  larger 
than  ordinary,  and  the  income  is  reduced  to  nothing. 
We  have  known  of  hundreds  of  such  cases,  where  the 
physician  who  called  from  two  to  ten  minutes  a  day, 
charged  more  for  his  services  than  the  husband,  who 
labored  ten  hours,  could  earn  in  the  same  day,  and  so 
this  program  continues  in  some  instances  for  several 
weeks  or  months.  Is  it  a  wonder  that  a  man  would 
get  discouraged,  trying  to  support  a  family  under 
such  circumstances?  The  day  will  come  when  the 
physician  will  be  liberally  supported  without  being  a 
burden  to  the  poor  slave  who  works,  and  the  quicker 
that  day  comes,  the  better  for  all  concerned. 

In  the  light  of  such  facts,  we  are  not  surprised  at  the 
strong  words  of  Victor  Hugo  in  his  immortal  irony: 


THE  CONDITION  OF  THE  UNSKILLED  WORKER.  55 

*'What  happiness  to  be  again  ridden  and  beaten  and 
starved!  What  happiness  to  work  forever  for  bread 
and  water !  What  happiness  to  be  free  from  the  delu- 
sion that  cake  is  good  and  life  other  than  misery !  Was 
there  anything  more  crazy  than  those  ideas?  Where 
should  we  be,  if  every  vagabond  had  his  rights?  Im- 
agine everybody  governing!  Can  you  imagine  a  city 
governed  by  the  men  who  built  it?  They  are  a  team, 
not  the  coachman.  What  a  godsend  is  a  rich  man  who 
takes  charge  of  everything!  Surely  he  is  generous 
to  take  the  trouble  for  us !  And  then  he  was  brought 
up  to  it;  he  knows  what  it  is;  it  is  his  business.  A 
guide  is  necessary  for  us.  Being  poor,  we  are  ig- 
norant ;  being  ignorant  we  are  blind ;  we  need  a  guide. 
But  why  are  we  ignorant?  Because  it  must  be  so. 
Ignorance  is  the  guardian  of  Virtue !  He  who  is  ignor- 
ant is  innocent !  It  is  not  our  duty  to  think,  complain  or 
reason.  These  truths  are  incontestable.  Society  re- 
poses on  them.  What  is  ** Society ?*'  Misery  for  you, 
if  you  support  it.  Be  reasonable,  poor  man,  you  were 
made  to  be  a  slave.'' 

There  are  many  workmen  unfit  because  of  ill  health. 
Possibly  no  chapter  of  the  hardships  of  labor  records 
so  many  pathetic  scenes  as  this  one.  To  see  a  sick 
father  dragging  himself  to  work  so  that  his  beloved 
offspring  can  get  enough  to  eat,  is  not  only  a  common 
scene  but  a  heart-touching  one.  We  have  known  men 
who  were  altogether  too  sick  to  work,  but  who  were 
under  the  **swim  or  die''  system,  and  therefore,  went 
to  work  until  their  strength  was  so  wasted  that  they 
fell  at  the  post  of  duty.  Can  you  think  of  a  sight  more 
pitiable?  We  have  also  known  many  a  man  who  met 
with  an  accident,  a  broken  arm  or  limb,  and  who  was 


56  THE  CONDITION  OF  THE  UNSKILLED  WORKER. 

bedfast  for  several  weeks.  After  such  a  one  is  in  bed 
a  short  time  he  is  likely  to  see  a  ghost  of  his  debts 
hanging  over  his  head  at  night.  This  is  the  common 
comfort  of  the  poor  man  who  is  sick,  or  who  becomes 
disabled  through  accident.  The  grocery  bill  has  run 
to  its  reasonable  limit,  the  meat  bill  has  been  paid  only 
in  part.  The  last  ton  of  coal  is  still  unpaid  and  more 
is  at  once  needed  to  keep  the  children  from  freezing. 
The  landlord  is  restless,  not  being  able  to  get  his  rent, 
and  everything  is  gloomy  because  of  these  conditions. 
The  little  relief  money  coming  scarcely  pays  for  the 
milk,  the  medicine,  and  other  incidentals. 

In  addition  to  all  this  the  attending  physician  in 
three  cases  out  of  four  is  kind  enough  to  charge  from 
fifty  cents  to  two  dollars  per  visit.  This  is  not  alto- 
gether the  physician's  fault  as  much  as  the  fault  of  the 
system  under  which  we  live.  And,  perchance,  the  sick 
man  must  have  a  prescription  filled,  then  the  druggist 
helps  him  by  charging  seventy-five  cents  for  fifteen 
cents'  worth  of  medicine.  Of  course,  we  must  not 
blame  the  druggist ;  he  is  simply  making  all  the  money 
he  can  under  the  existing  condition  of  society. 


3. — The  Wages  of  the  Unskilled  Workers  Eeduce 
Them  to  a  State  of  General  Poverty. 

According  to  the  ** Municipal  Court  Review''  (Feb- 
ruary 1904),  over  50,000  families  were  evicted  from 
their  homes  in  1903  in  the  Borough  of  Manhattan, 
New  York.  Lay  this  sad  comment  on  passing  events 
beside  the  other,  that  one  burial  in  every  ten  in  New 
York  is  in  the  Potter's  Field.  In  the  Census  Report  of 


THE  CONDITION  OF  THE  UNSKILLED  WORKER.  57 

1900,  it  is  shown  that  in  Greater  New  York  in  that  year, 
there  were  in  round  numbers  700,000  families.  Of 
these  35,000  owned  their  homes  free  of  debt,  while 
48,000  had  mortgaged  homes  and  over  600,000  families 
were  renters.  By  a  little  use  of  the  pencil,  it  can  be 
seen  that  only  six  of  these  families  of  each  hundred 
own  their  homes.  There  is  no  need  for  this  condition 
of  affairs  in  a  country  of  such  great  wealth,  and  it  will 
not  be  so  always.  It  can  continue  only  until  the  masses 
understand  the  way  of  escape,  and  take  advantage 
of  it. 

It  requires  but  little  proof  to  satisfy  any  one  that 
poverty  is  common  amongst  the  unskilled  workers, 
even  if  we  look  only  at  the  unsanitary  condition  of  their 
homes,  if  it  is  proper  to  call  them  homes.  The  most 
terrible  aspect  of  this  poverty  is  seen  in  the  tenement- 
house  sections  of  our  great  cities.  We  are  informed 
by  statistics  that  there  are  wards  in  New  York  in 
which  the  rate  of  population  runs  over  200,000  to  the 
square  mile.  To  use  the  language  of  Dr.-  Sprague, 
^*  Think  of  a  plot  of  ground  two  hundred  feet  square 
providing  a  permanent  home  for  nearly  six  hundred 
persons,  giving  to  each  a  space  of  eight  feet  by  nine. 
But  even  so  scanty  a  provision  is  palatial  when  the 
facts  are  more  closely  examined.  Sixteen  families, 
composed  of  eighty  persons,  in  a  single  twenty-five 
foot  dwelling  is  common.  In  a  room  of  twelve  feet  by 
eight  and  five  and-a-half  feet  high,  inspected  some 
years  ago,  it  was  found  that  nine  persons  slept  and 
prepared  their  food.  In  another  room  located  in  a 
dark  cellar,  without  screens  or  partitions,  were  hud- 
dled together  two  men  with  their  wives  and  a  girl  four- 
teen; two  single  men  and  a  boy  of  seventeen;  two  wo- 


58  THE  CONDITION  OF  THE  UNSKILLED  WORKER. 

men  and  four  boys,  nine,  ten,  eleven  and  fifteen  yeaps 
— fourteen  persons  in  all." 

It  is  no  wonder  that  children  bom  in  such  places 
are  early  carried  to  their  graves.  This  is  a  picture  of 
low  life  and  found  in  more  than  one  city.  It  is  terrible 
to  think  that  such  conditions  could  prevail  in  a  land  of 
plenty,  where  the  harvests  are  so  abundant  in  some 
places  that  they  must  partly  rot  in  the  fields.  We 
will  close  this  part  of  the  chapter  by  a  quotation  from 
** Socialism  from  Genesis  to  Revelation:''  *^Let  the 
dullest  imagination  fill  out  the  sickening  details  of  this 
horrible  picture;  the  gnawing  hunger  and  pinching 
cold;  the  frightful  and  obscene  jests;  the  brutal  quar- 
rels and  hideous  orgies;  the  noisome  smells  and  dis- 
gusting noises;  the  reeking  filth  and  shocking  inde- 
cencies; the  utter  absence  of  that  ^hope  that  comes  to 
all ; '  the  hot  tears  flowing  from  glassy  eyes ;  the  sighs 
and  groans  of  despair  at  the  certainty  that  the  only  de- 
liverance from  this  sepulcher  above  ground,  is  the  one 
below  it.  And  we  are  led  to  ask  in  all  seriousness ;  can 
there  be  real  fear  of  God  and  genuine  life  of  man  in  a 
community  or  country  where  such  things  are  allowed 
to  exist  r' 

Poverty  also  shows  its  fearful  work  throughout  the 
whole  country.  If  one  travel  in  the  mining  regions,  or 
the  manufacturing  centers  anywhere  along  the  com- 
mercial lines  of  our  country,  he  will  find  the  poorest 
workers  huddled  together  in  masses,  living  under  the 
most  miserable  and  unsanitary  conditions.  Conditions 
of  this  kind  are  enough  to  arouse  the  attention  of  all 
sober-minded  people.  It  is  not  enough  to  lay  the  blame 
at  the  door  of  the  suffering  poor.  Society  at  large 
creates  the  conditions  that  make  such  a  life  possible, 


THE  CONDITION  OF  THE  UNSKILLED  WORKER.  59 

and  we  as  a  people  shall  never  be  free  from  condemna- 
tion mitil  we  have  given  each  man  an  equal  chance  to 
be  what  he  ought  to  be,  and  to  carry  out  his  honest 
ambitions  for  advancement  in  life. 

The  whole  rank  and  file  of  unskilled  workers  are 
restless  and  discontented,  mainly  because  they  well 
know  that  they  are  unduly  crushed,  and  that  they  are 
not  receiving  a  sufficient  return  for  their  labor. 

4. — The  Unskilled  Worker's  Prospects  fob  Old  Age 
Are  Not  Favorable. 

Under  this  section  we  must  crowd  a  volume  of  facts 
and  conditions  into  a  few  general  statements. 

An  old  worker  once  said,  *  *  I  envy  that  horse. ' '  The 
horse  in  question  had  faithfully  served  his  master  for 
many  years,  and  now  the  four-footed  creature  was  too 
old  to  work,  so  his  master  kept  him  on  account  of  the 
work  he  had  previously  done.  Many  a  horse  is  given 
his  vacation  after  his  best  service  has  been  rendered 
to  a  master.  But  some  horses  are  treated  as  badly  as 
some  poor  old  men,  they  are  worked  to  the  full  limit 
of  their  endurance,  just  as  l©ng  as  they  have  any 
strength  left. 

We  ask  the  reader  to  study  the  condition  of  the 
average  unskilled  worker,  and  decide  for  himself 
whether  or  not  such  a  man  can  decently  support  him- 
self and  family,  and  in  addition,  treasure  up  a  little 
for  old  age.  Admitting  that  some  men  are  careless 
spendthrifts,  the  fact  yet  remains  that  the  common  la- 
borer cannot  get  more  than  a  bare  subsistence.  What 
is  such  a  man  to  do  when  he  reaches  old  age?  The 
answer  to  this  question  reveals  a  pitiful  series  of  facts, 


60  THE  CONDITION  OF  THE  UNSKILLED  WORKER. 

from  which  too  many  of  our  social  economists  prefer 
to  turn  their  eyes.  We  are  living  in  a  cold,  cold  world, 
and  no  one  knows  just  how  unsympathetic  the  mass  of 
people  are  until  he  comes  to  a  dependent  old  age  with- 
out money  or  kinsman  to  sustain  him.  Such  a  condi- 
tion ought  not  to  be  possible,  and  the  time  will  soon 
come  when  every  old  man  and  woman  will  receive  all 
the  comforts  and  necessary  attention  that  they  can 
well  appropriate,  and  not  under  the  roof  of  a  public 
almshouse. 

When  the  redemption  of  the  worker  is  at  hand,  and 
each  man  does  his  duty  to  society,  and  society  does  its 
duty  to  each  man,  then  the  present  incogruities  of  the 
worker  and  of  the  aged  will  be  a  nightmare  of  the  past. 
The  workingmen,  as  a  class,  are  gradually  seeing  that 
industrial  liberty  is  more  than  a  dream  and  that  it  can 
be  reached  without  a  bloody  revolution  or  insurrection. 

The  workers  are  the  burden  bearers  of  the  nation, 
and  their  sufferings  are  being  recognized.  They  are 
imposed  upon  by  the  employing  class;  they  are  made 
the  fools  of  legislation;  they  are  suffering  under  the 
lash  of  our  cruel  competitive  system.  They  have  many 
common  foes  to  meet,  and  must  wrestle  under  the 
power  of  heartless  monopolies.  They  see  new  ma- 
chinery placed  upon  the  market  to  save  labor,  and  in- 
stead of  making  their  burdens  lighter,  the  whole  bene- 
fit of  improved  machinery  flows  into  the  coffers  of  the 
rich. 

We  will  consider  at  more  length  the  causes  of  labor's 
discontent  in  the  chapter  to  follow. 


O    w' 

SI'S  X 

("  o  tn 
3  '^ 

;:^  p  o 

5  3,  » 

C   o  & 

O     13-  > 

2  " 

St  3  o 

-  •  ;:^  s 

o  S  ►n 

3  ^  O 

w  w 

■    -•  "J 


o 

c 


The  Juggernaut  of  Poverty. — Under  our  present  system  of  economics, 
poverty  is  doubly  cruel  and  heartless.  While  all  try  to  escape  it,  yet  thou- 
sands are  crushed  annually  under  its  awful  wheels. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


A. 
ARISING  FROM  CONDITIONS  IMPOSED  ON 
LABOR. 

I.— THE  GRINDING  AND  KILLING  SYSTEMS 
OF  WORK. 

One  of  the  saddest  results  of  greed  and  competition, 
is  the  effort  on  the  part  of  the  employer  to  get  as  much 
work  as  possible  out  of  the  employed.  From  a  busi- 
ness standpoint,  this  seems  to  be  a  very  natural  result, 
for  it  has  been  recognized  by  some  long  since  that 
** might  is  right.*'  One  of  labor's  incongruities  is: 


1. — The  Length  op  a  Day's  Woek. 

The  ten-hour  day  for  the  manual  laborer  is  one  of 
the  unnecessary  evils  of  our  time,  and  should  be 
stricken  from  the  list  of  civilized  customs  among  free 
men,  and  be  considered  as  a  punishment  to  criminals 

63 


64  THE  CAUSE  OF  LABOR 's  DISCONTENT. 

in  penitentiaries.  There  are  certain  kinds  of  employ- 
ment for  which  ten  hours  a  day  may  be  fair,  even 
though  it  is  not  essential,  but  for  hard  manual  labor, 
it  is  too  long,  and  compels  a  man  to  expend  too  much 
energy  for  the  amount  of  strength  he  possesses  and 
the  wage  he  receives.  We  read  of  a  man  who  was  re- 
tained by  the  trust.  He  said  that  under  the  new  man- 
agement it  was  often  eight  o'clock  at  night  before  he 
got  through  with  his  work,  and  with  all  that,  the  se- 
verity of  his  work  was  greatly  increased.  When  he 
was  asked  how  much  his  salary  had  been  increased,  he 
answered  by  saying  that  it  had  been  cut  40  per  cent. 
**But  what  can  an  old  fellow  dof  he  slowly  added. 

A  contractor  or  corporation  agrees  to  do  a  certain 
work  for  a  fixed  amount,  and  let  us  suppose  one  hun- 
dred men  are  employed  to  accomplish  this.  It  is  easily 
seen  that  the  longer  and  more  rapidly  the  men  work, 
the  more  profit  the  employer  will  make ;  so,  of  course, 
the  pick  and  shovel  must  move  ceaselessly,  and  the 
poor  laborer  can  take  his  choice — keep  grinding  away 
at  it,  or  quit  work,  either  to  starve,  go  on  a  tramp,  or 
get  another  job  of  a  similar  character. 

There  are  many  difficulties  in  the  way  of  reducing 
the  numbers  of  hours  that  constitute  a  day's  work. 
Competition  directly  blocks  the  way,  and  compels  one 
competitor  to  receive  as  much  service  for  a  day's  work 
as  another.  Any  one  acquainted  with  the  work  of  re- 
form knows  how  difficult  it  is  to  get  all  competitors  to 
act  in  unison.  Since  one  line  of  business  overreaches 
another,  it  would  mean  that  the  whole  state  or  nation 
must  act.  The  suggestion  has  been  made  that  the  na- 
tional government  has  power  to  pass  such  a  law,  which 
is  very  true,  and  if  the  national  government  were  in- 


THE  CAUSE  OF  LABOR 's  DISCONTENT.  65 

fluenced  by  the  laboring  masses  as  much  as  by  the 
monopolies,  such  a  law  would  speedily  be  enacted. 

Certain  tradesmen,  such  as  bricklayers,  have  won 
the  victoi;^^  by  strikes  and  other  similar  measures,  but 
it  is  very  difficult  to  unite  all  workmen  sufficiently  to 
gain  any  just  measure  for  the  workingman. 

There  are  certain  writers  who  claim  that  less  hours 
per  day  for  the  workman  would  mean  less  production 
and  more  vice.  Strange  as  it  may  seem,  when  the 
hours  of  a  day  ^s  work  were  reduced  to  ten,  the  amount 
of  production  was  almost  the  same  as  before  and  vice 
was  not  increased. 

It  is  interesting  to  study  the  different  methods  used 
by  employers  to  get  the  most  work  possible  out  of  their 
men.  One  of  the  most  terrible  of  these  is  what  we  will 
call 

2. — The  **  Rhythm  Steoke.'' 

A  few  years  ago  in  the  suburbs  of  Philadelphia  we 
saw  a  gang  of  about  fifty  men  at  work  on  the  highway 
digging  ditches  of  some  kind.  The  ^^boss^'  stood  be- 
fore them,  and  the  head  workman  kept  time  and  all 
fifty  men  were  compelled  to  raise  their  picks  at  the 
same  time.  Up  and  down  went  this  line  of  fifty  picks. 
Minute  after  minute  the  earth  trembled  with  a  heavy 
thud  as  long  as  we  watched  the  operation.  Any  one  of 
the  workmen  could  take  his  choice  of  keeping  pace  with 
the  rest  or  of  falling  out  of  line  and  thereby  surrender- 
ing his  job.  Our  heart  was  strangely  and  deeply 
touched  as  we  witnessed  this  picture  of  real  life,  and 
we  were  moved  by  a  spirit  of  indignation  somewhat 
akin  to  that  which  was  felt  by  Abraham  Lincoln  as  he 


66  THE  CAUSE  OF  LABOR 's  DISCONTENT. 

looked  upon  the  selling  of  slaves  whicli  gave  birth  to 
that  immortal  remark ;  ^ '  If  ever  I  get  a  chance  to  strike 
that,  I  will  strike  it  hard/'  So  we  felt  at  that  time, 
and  now  feel  concerning  all  the  grinding  and  killing 
processes  of  work  that  are  used  by  some  of  the 
employing  class.  We  should  like  to  get  a  chance  to 
strike  so  hard  that  the  laborer  could  be  made  free  and 
placed  upon  a  platform  of  honor,  where  he  would  be 
given  the  same  chance  to  advance  himself  as  others 
now  enjoy. 

3. — Sweating  System. 

Still  more  terrible  is  the  picture  of  the  **  Sweating 
System,  *'  as  seen  in  most  of  the  large  cities  of  our 
country.  This  is  a  popular  name  to  describe  a  condi- 
tion of  labor  in  which  the  greatest  amount  of  work  is 
to  be  done  in  a  given  time  for  the  lowest  wages,  with- 
out considering  the  happiness  or  misery  of  the  em- 
ployees. The  work  is  not  always  done  in  the  factory, 
but  it  is  often  parcelled  out  to  different  ones  in  their 
homes.  The  man  who  has  charge  of  this  kind  of  work, 
is  called  the  *  ^  Sweater,  * '  and  when  you  become  familiar 
with  the  conditions  of  labor  and  the  grinding  wage, 
you  will  conclude  that  he  is  rightly  named.  Carrol  D. 
Wright  says  in  his  outline  of  Practical  Sociology,  *  *  The 
employees  in  this  work  are  usually  very  ignorant, 
*  *  *  crowded  in  close  rooms  without  regard  to 
sex  or  age.  The  evils  of  the  sweatshop  come  very 
largely  within  the  domain  of  morals.  *  *  *  Pub- 
lic attention  of  late  has  been  very  sharply  called  to 
their  existence,  and  to  the  very  bad  conditions  which 
surround  the  worker,  and  efforts  have  been  made  not 
only  to  regulate,  but  to  abolish  all  such  places. ' ' 


THE  CAUSE  OF  LABOR 's  DISCONTENT.  67 

Certain  employees  work  by  contract,  which  is  an- 
other term  for  piece-work.  This  sounds  very  dignified, 
but  when  you  know  the  facts,  you  are  chilled  with  hor- 
ror. The  writer  has  taken  much  pains  to  investigate 
the  work  and  wages  of  young  women  who  work  by 
contract  in  factories.  Along  this  line  has  developed 
the  most  modern  type  of  the  Sweating  System.  We 
know  of  one  strong  young  woman  who  worked  like  a 
slave  for  six  days  and  earned  $2.60.  Her  average  wage 
for  six  months  was  under  $3  per  week.  She  struggled 
hard  trying  to  earn  enough  to  pay  her  board,  and  then 
at  last,  with  tears  in  her  eyes,  she  said  that  she  did  not 
know  what  to  do  next.  She  might  have  worked  as  a  do- 
mestic in  some  home,  if  she  had  been  willing  to 
enter  one  of  the  meanest  forms  of  slavery  that 
modern  life  enforces  on  the  great  majority  who 
work  as  servants.  After  an  investigation  of  many 
homes,  we  found  that  only  one  out  of  the  three  of  the 
house-servants  was  treated  with  ordinary  respect.  In 
the  other  cases  the  so-called  servant  was  made  to  feel 
that  she  was  *^ beneath''  the  members  of  the  household, 
not  worthy  to  meet  with  them  on  any  base  of  equality. 
No  matter  how  poor  a  person  may  be,  a  haughty  spirit 
on  the  part  of  the  mistress  makes  it  very  humiliating 
for  the  servant  who  has  any  degree  of  self  respect. 

Instances  like  the  one  cited  could  be  mentioned  by 
the  hundred  to  show  the  various  forms  of  the  sweating 
system.  In  the  light  of  this  knowledge,  is  it  a  wonder 
that  some  women  are  tempted  to  yield  to  a  life  of 
shame?  And  the  terrible  fact  that  some  do  fall,  com- 
pels us  to  make  reference  to  one  of  the  blackest  chap- 
ters of  human  history.  The  moral  stench  arising  from 
the  larger  centers  of  population  is  so  great  that  one  is 


68  THE  CAUSE  OF  LABOR 's  DISCONTENT. 

sickened  and  appalled.  We  are  reliably  informed  that 
there  is  one  harlot  for  every  ten  women  in  some  of  our 
larger  cities,  and  the  sweating  system  of  work  is  partly 
responsible  for  these  horrible  conditions.  Valentine 
Reichel,  A.  M.,  Ph.D.  Lit.  D.,  boldly  declares:  ^' It  is  a 
notorious  fact  that  about  thirty  per  cent,  of  the  women 
and  girls  in  this  country  who  are  forced  into  a  life  of 
sin,  fall  into  the  mire  because  their  wages,  in  honest 
callings  are  insufficient  to  enable  them  to  obtain  even 
the  necessities  of  life.'' 

It  is  only  just  to  say  that  there  are  a  great  many  em- 
ployers who  make  every  effort  to  treat  their  employees 
as  fairly  as  possible;  in  truth,  there  are  many  prac- 
tical Christian  business  men  who  would  be  willing  to 
make  it  possible  for  a  person  to  receive  a  living  wage 
for  a  normal  expenditure  of  energy,  if  it  were  not  for 
the  ^^ squeeze'*  of  business  competition  which  compels 
them  to  get  their  work  done  as  economically  as  others. 
When  the  day  of  redemption  for  the  laborer  comes,  no 
honest  man  or  woman  will  be  compelled  to  work  like  a 
slave,  and  no  capitalist  will  profit  by  the  heartaches 
and  broken  lives  of  his  employees. 

If  any  one  wishes  to  look  into  this  question  further, 
let  him  write  to  his  Congressman  for  the  article  on 
** Sweating"  report  2309  of  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives; or  let  him  read  Bank's  White  Slaves,  or  let  him 
take  a  personal  tour  of  the  districts  where  the  **  Sweat- 
ing System"  is  in  operation. 

4. — Robbed  of  the  Sabbath  Rest. 

Another  of  the  grinding  methods  of  work  is  the  grad- 
ual move  in  this  country,  for  the  past  one  hundred 
years,  to  break  down  the  Sabbath  day  of  rest.    We  will 


THE  CAUSE  OF  LABOR 's  DISCONTENT.  69 

not  here  enter  into  any  religious  discussion  concerning 
the  right  or  wrong  of  this  matter.  We  will  look  at  it 
purely  from  a  humane  standpoint.  The  one  who  works 
(and  everybody  ought  to  work)  is  entitled  to  one  full 
day's  rest  in  seven.  It  has  been  shown  that  a  periodi- 
cal rest  every  seventh  day  is  good  for  man,  beast  and 
machinery.  France  tried  to  ignore  this  law  and  experi- 
mented with  the  one-day-in-ten-plan.  This  was  a  fail- 
ure as  was  all  the  plans  that  have  been  substituted  for 
the  one  adopted  by  the  Creator.  God  who  made  man 
knew  what  was  best  for  his  physical  and  spiritual 
nature^  and  the  individual  or  the  nation  that  ignores 
the  law  of  one-day-in-seven,  or  the  Sabbath  day  of 
Rest,  is  beating  against  a  rook. 

It  is  sometimes  said  that  corporations  have  no 
souls,  and,  if  we  are  to  judge  them  by  their  attitude  on 
the  Sabbath  question,  we  can  conclude  this  is  true  of 
many  of  them.  The  workingmen  of  this  country  ought 
to  get  their  eyes  open  before  they  are  altogether  en- 
slaved. If  the  Sabbath  is  broken  down,  it  will  then  be 
just  as  hard  to  earn  a  livelihood  in  seven  days'  work 
as  now  in  six,  for  it  has  been  proved  that  wages  will 
always  be  so  adjusted  that  the  worker  will  earn  only 
enough  for  a  bare  subsistence.  Under  the  ruling  greed 
and  graft  of  our  monopolies  there  is  no  effort  made  to 
spare  the  worker  on  the  Sabbath  day,  and  if  certain 
large  business  concerns  had  their  own  way,  they  would 
utterly  overthrow  the  Sabbath  as  a  day  of  rest.  It  is 
impossible  in  a  limited  consideration  of  the  subject, 
such  as  we  are  compelled  to  give,  to  go  further  into 
details.  We  simply  call  attention  to  this  as  one  of  the 
grinding  tendencies  of  our  times. 


70  THE  CAUSE  OF  LABOR 's  DISCONTENT. 

II.— LOW  WAGES. 

One  of  the  chief  difficulties  that  leads  to  a  dozen 
more,  is  the  small  wage  that  the  average  unskilled 
worker  receives.  Joseph  Cook  in  one  of  his  Monday 
lectures  declared  that  a  family  of  five  living  in  the 
city  could  not  very  well  live  through  a  year  respect- 
ably, and  according  to  the  standard  of  the  workingmen 
of  America,  if  the  father  is  the  only  support,  and  is 
paid  less  than  $10.00  or  $12.00  a  week.  The  Massa- 
chusetts Bureau  of  Labor  also  declared  that  the  re- 
cipient of  a  yearly  wage  of  less  than  six  hundred 
dollars  must  go  into  debt.  John  Mitchell,  that  famous 
labor  leader  says: — ^^For  the  great  mass  of  unskilled 
workingmen  residing  in  towns  or  cities,  with  a  popu- 
lation of  from  five  thousand  to  one  hundred  thousand, 
the  fair  wage,  a  wage  consistent  with  the  American 
standard  of  living,  should  not  be  less  than  six  hundred 
dollars  a  year.  Less  than  this  would,  in  my  judg- 
ment, be  insufficient  to  give  to  the  workingman  those 
necessaries  and  comforts,  and  those  small  luxuries 
which  are  now  considered  essential."  The  General 
Advisory  Committee  of  the  Chicago  Bureau  of  Chari- 
ties on  March  17,  1904,  ^*  agreed  that  no  American 
family,  or  family  of  any  other  nationality,  whose 
standards  of  living  are  similar,  could  comfortably  live 
on  any  less  than  one  dollar  a  week  per  capita  at  the 
present  time,  owing  to  the  high  price  of  foods.'* 

The  grinding  conditions  of  work  and  low  wages, 
coupled  with  the  scarcity  of  work  at  certain  times, 
have  greatly  increased  the  army  of  paupers  of  which 
there  are  nearly  three  millions  in  the  United  States. 

The  usual  custom  is  to  put  a  wholesale  condemna- 


THE  CAUSE  OF  LABOR 's  DISCONTENT.  71 

tion  on  the  paupers  themselves.  This  is  the  easiest 
way  to  get  rid  of  the  whole  question.  Now,  if  we  rea- 
son together,  will  it  not  appear  that  much  of  this  pau- 
perism is  due  to  the  Social  conditions  under  which  we 
live  as  a  people? 

So  far  as  the  tramp  is  concerned,  our  people  seem  to 
be  willing  to  support  him,  but  he  will  not  always  be 
fed  after  the  present  manner.  The  time  will  soon 
come  when  the  tramp  or  vagabond,  instead  of  being 
a  burden  to  Society,  will  either  do  his  share  of  the 
work  and  live  respectably,  or  he  will  be  put  to  more 
severe  work  under  the  state,  and  his  work  will  be  of 
a  useful  character,  and  will  help  to  make  the  work  of 
the  honest  man  lighter. 

We  shall  have  much  more  to  say  about  the  general 
class  of  unskilled  workers  in  a  few  chapters  to  come. 
It  is  enough  to  say  at  this  time  that  the  Trusts  and 
combinations  are  having  by  far  the  best  of  it.  There 
is  something  radically  wrong  when  over  600,000  men 
and  women  are  destitute  in  New  York  alone  at  a  time 
when  the  country  was  never  more  prosperous.  The 
large  number  of  Trusts  have  so  doubled  the  price  on 
such  a  large  number  of  articles,  that  living  is  un- 
bearably high,  or  to  put  the  matter  more  truthfully, 
those  who  work  must  work  half  the  year  for  them- 
selves, and  the  other  half  for  the  Trusts  and  the  idlers. 
Does  it  not  seem  strange  that  coal  should  reach  its  high- 
est price  when  it  is  most  plentiful,  and  that  the  Beef 
Trust  should  charge  nearly  double  price  for  meat,  when 
the  Western  farms  never  yielded  a  greater  supply  of 
cattle,  and  at  a  price  beaten  far  down  by  the  power  of 
the  Trusts!  And  what  the  Ice  Trust,  the  Sugar  Trust, 
and  the  Oil  Trust  cannot  do,  then  the  Gas  Trust  or 


72  THE  CAUSE  OF  LABOR 's  DISCONTENT. 

some  other  kind  of  Trust  steps  in  to  do.  We  are  cer- 
tainly in  a  country  of  great  prosperity,  and  everybody 
is  prospering  but  the  workingman.  He  has  been  con- 
tent to  make  automobiles  and  let  somebody  else  ride  in 
them ;  to  make  Pullman  cars  for  the  comfort  of  others ; 
to  go  shivering  in  winter  and  follow  coffee  wagons 
while  others  eat  out  of  silver  dishes;  but  he  is  begin- 
ning to  see  his  folly,  and  he  has  long  ere  this  asked 
for  his  rights,  and  he  has  done  many  foolish  things 
trying  to  get  them;  but  some  of  these  things  are  nec- 
essary evils  before  the  most  intelligent  plan  of  com- 
bination will  be  reached.  When  that  day  comes  the 
tiller  of  the  field  will  join  hands  with  the  miner,  and 
the  miner  will  join  hands  with  the  shopman,  and  they 
will  all  move  together  to  secure  what  belongs  to  them : 
and  THEY  wHjL  get  it. 


III.— UNCERTAINTY  OF  WORK. 

Since  work  is  the  divinely  appointed  means  of  gain- 
ing a  livelihood,  it,  therefore,  follows,  according  to  a 
popular  quotation,  ^*If  any  man  will  not  work,  neither 
shall  he  eat.''  This  law  is  reasonable  and  right,  and 
is  having  a  practical  application  in  some  countries 
where  the  imemployed  are  assisted  to  find  work.  A 
trudging  tramp  is  put  in  a  public  workhouse  where  he 
can  earn  his  own  living ;  and  if  he  refuses  to  work,  he 
receives  nothing  to  eat. 

Another  saying,  which  is  not  quite  so  popular,  runs 
as  follows : — '*If  any  man  does  work,  he  has  a  right  to 
eat.''  We  will  change  this  by  saying  that  if  a  man 
works,  or  is  willing  to  work,  he  has  a  right  to  a  decent 


THE  CAUSE  OF  LABOR 's  DISCONTENT.  73 

and  comfortable  living.  The  world  does  not  question 
this  right  to  a  man  who  actually  works,  but  to  the  man 
who  is  ^*out  of  work''  and  yet  willing  to  work,  it  de- 
nies him  necessary  provision.  He  must  depend  either 
upon  what  he  has  accumulated,  upon  his  friends,  upon 
voluntary  charity,  or  go  begging. 

Our  Social  system  is  radically  wrong,  when  there 
is  no  reasonable  way  of  getting  food  to  a  needy  family 
whose  wage  earner  is  incapacitated.  The  great  ma- 
jority of  those  who  work  have  no  certainty  as  to  the 
permanence  of  their  employment,  even  if  they  render 
good  services. 

1. — Shut-downs  as  a  Cause  of  Uncertainty. 

Sometimes  a  corporation  will  post  notices  at  their 
shops  or  factories,  similar  to  the  following:  *^ There 
will  be  no  work  for  two  weeks.''  They  need  not  give 
any  reason  for  their  shut-down,  and  they  need  not 
give  the  notice  very  long  in  advance.  It  may  be  that 
a  company  wishes  to  make  necessary  repairs.  There 
is  nothing  wrong  about  this,  except  that  the  men  have 
no  work  for  two  weeks,  and  no  provision  is  made  for 
their  support  during  that  time.  Under  our  present 
system,  the  employer  would  not  be  able  to  pay  his  men 
when  his  works  are  idle. 

It  may  be  that  the  shut-down  is  due  to  over  produc- 
tion,  one  of  those  peculiar  situations  in  which  there 
is  too  large  a  supply  of  goods  on  hand  and  the  people 
are  unable  to  buy  them,  and,  therefore,  the  producer 
and  the  consumer  both  suffer.  This  is  one  of  the 
strangest  paradoxes  of  our  advanced  civilization. 

The  shut-down  may  be  for  the  purpose  of  freezing 


74  THE  CAUSE  OF  LABOe's  DISCONTENT. 

and  starving  the  employees  into  submission  of  some 
kind.  The  truth  comes  from  behind  the  scenes  that 
certain  companies  must  ^^keep  their  men  down,'^  and 
when  they  observe  that  they  are  prospering  and  be- 
coming a  little  independent,  and  perhaps  discussing 
their  rights,  then  the  best  medicine  that  can  be  ad- 
ministered is  a  few  weeks  or  months  of  idleness.  This 
medicine  has  great  effect  on  the  laborers.  They  be- 
come very  humble,  and  when  work  is  again  given  to 
them,  they  feel  like  blessing  the  hand  that  gives  them 
a  chance  to  work.  This  uncertainty  of  work  is  one  of 
the  most  unjust  situations  in  our  country,  and  yet, 
who  is  to  blame  for  it?  The  employer  claims  a  right 
to  run  his  business  as  he  pleases,  and  the  men  natur- 
ally know  that  they  can  get  no  pay  when  they  have 
no  employment  given  to  them.  Prof.  Ely,  in  his  ad- 
mirable work  on  Sociology,  etc.,  says,  *  *  What  the 
wage-earner  wants  is  not  so  much  larger  annual  earn- 
ings, but  a  regular  receipt  of  income  in  place  of  the 
present  uncertainty." 

2. — Panics  as  a  Cause  of  Uncertainty. 

No  volume  ever  written  has  been  able  to  describe 
the  far-reaching  curses  of  the  periodical  American 
panic.  We  need  not  go  back  farther  than  the  one 
of  1837.  This  was  a  remarkable  time  when  the  coun- 
try in  the  Middle  West  was  rapidly  filling  with  inhabi- 
tants. People  crowded  into  that  section;  lands  rose 
to  fabulous  prices;  towns  and  cities  sprang  up  like 
mushrooms  in  the  night.  In  some  sections,  real  estate 
jumped  to  twenty  times  its  original  price.  Work  was 
plenty,  and  everything  in  the  mad  rush  told  the  ex- 


ffi 


76  THE  CAUSE  OF  LABOR  *S  DISCONTENT. 

dted  populace  that  there  would  be  no  eud  to  the  wild 
craze, — ^but  a  sudden  turn  came  when  Andrew  Jackson 
issued  a  specie  circular  in  which  he  demanded,  '*Pay 
for  Tour  kmd  in  coin  hereafter. '^  Paper  money  in 
notes  had  been  the  handy  medium,  and  the  President 
wished  to  straighten  things  out  as  he  thought  and  get 
everything  back  on  a  good  foimdation. 

The  result  was  far-reaching  and  terrible.  A  gen- 
eral bankruptcy  followed  until  all  the  states  were 
plunged  into  financial  ruin.  Then  came  the  tales  of 
woe  from  the  mouths  of  several  millions ;  they  had  no 
work,  and  therefore,  could  not  buy  bread.  The  farms 
kept  on  yielding  their  abimdant  crops,  and  there  was 
ample  food  to  feed  every  hungry  mouth,  but  the  social 
machine  was  out  of  order,  and  it  had  no  way  of  lifting 
the  bread  to  the  mouth  of  the  hungry,  and  therefore 
some  starved  amidst  plenty.  This  is  a  common  tale, 
and  with  some  changed  conditions  it  is  the  same  in  all 
our  great  i>amcs. 

In  the  panic  or  hard  times  of  1882-1884,  the  same 
sad  conditions  prevailed  in  r^ard  to  the  suffering  of 
the  laborers.  It  is  very  difficult  to  ascertain  the  cause  of 
such  a  panic.  The  United  States  Labor  Commissioner 
threw  out  his  lines  and  gathered  in  from  prominent 
authorities  on  political  economy  the  followiag  list  of 
causes: — ** Abolition  of  the  apprentice  system,  Busi- 
ness incapacity,  Timidity  of  capital.  Absorption  of 
capital.  Concentration  of  capital,  Absence  of  caste, 
Employment  of  children.  Creation  of  corporations. 
Small  croi)s,  Scarcity  of  currency,  Indiscriminate 
education.  Enforced  idleness.  Poor-class  immigration, 
ffigh-rate  interest,  Extravagant  living.  Labor-saving 
machinery.  Over-production,   Party  policy.  Inflation 


THE  CAUSE  OP  LABOR 's  DISCONTENT.  77 

of  prices,  Reaction  from  prosperity,  Decreased  rail- 
road buildiQg,  Over-building  of  railroads.  Speculation, 
Introduction  of  Bessemer  steel,  Sixteen  difficulties 
with  the  tariff.  Liquor  traffic,  Consolidation  of  wealth, 
War/' 

The  foregoing  list  is  somewhat  amusing.  It  simply 
shows  that  each  one  places  the  blame  along  the  line 
of  his  own  thinking,  and  it  also  teaches  how  pre- 
sumptuous it  is  for  any  one  man  to  insist  upon  his 
particular  theory  or  hobby.  It  does  not  make  any  dif- 
ference what  the  real  cause  of  the  panic  is,  we  are 
more  concerned  about  the  result,  and  that  is,  that  a 
man  should  be  thrown  out  of  employment  and  no 
means  provided  for  his  support. 

In  1893  a  painful  panic  prevailed  over  the  country; 
it  was  especially  severe  in  the  sections  of  the  iron  in- 
dustries. It  cannot  be  proved  positively,  but  appear- 
ances indicate  that  this  was  the  cruel  soil*  out  of  which 
the  billion  dollar  steel  combine  grew.  In  the  Capital- 
istic style  it  was  necessary  to  tear  out  the  foundation  of 
the  whole  iron  and  steel  industry  in  order  to  bring 
everything  to  terms.  If  there  was  a  selfish  motive 
back  of  that  movement,  there  must  come  a  righteous 
judgment  some  day  upon  the  heads  of  the  promoters. 
We  witnessed  with  our  own  eyes  some  of  the  sharp 
turns  of  poverty  which  people  suffered  during  this 
panic.  We  know  one  instance  of  a  father  who  had  been 
hunting  all  day  for  work,  and  not  finding  any,  he 
dreaded  to  go  home  to  face  his  starving  wife  and  chil- 
dren, who  had  been  hoping  all  afternoon  that  he  might 
bring  some  food  or  good  news  to  them.  The  mother  had 
given  the  baby  the  last  bit  of  bread  long  before  the 
husband  returned.    When  he  did  enter  the  door  she 


78  THE  CAUSE  OF  LABOK^S  DISC0N1:enT. 

looked  at  him  imploringly,  and  asked,  *^Have  you 
found  any  work  yet,  John  ? ' '  The  poor  fellow  weakened 
by  hunger,  was  unable  to  stand  the  strain,  and  he 
broke  down  completely.  This  father  did  not  become 
insane,  and  in  a  mad  fit  go  out  and  shoot  himself,  but 
was  driven  to  that  last  humiliation  of  asking  for  help. 
This,  to  our  mind,  is  one  of  the  most  pitiful  pictures 
of  modem  conditions,  that  a  strong,  honest  man,  able 
and  willing  to  work,  and  begging  for  it,  is  neither 
given  work  nor  its  equivalent.  The  long-ago  stanza 
of  Eobert  Burns  pathetically  describes  such  a  man: 

**See  yonder,  poor,  o'erlabored  wight. 

So  abject,  mean  and  vile. 
Who  begs  his  brother  of  the  earth 

To  give  him  leave  to  toil! 
And  see  his  lordly  fellow  worm 

The  poor  petition  spurn. 
Unmindful  though  a  weeping  wife 

And  helpless  offspring  mourn.'' 

In  this  same  panic  we  know  that  scores  of  families 
were  driven  to  the  keen  edge  of  suffering  and  many 
others  were  compelled  to  spend  all  their  hard-earned, 
life-long  savings.  There  was  no  need  that  anybody 
should  suffer;  our  land  was  producing  more  wheat 
than  the  people  could  use;  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
bushels  were  being  shipped  to  other  countries,  and  thus 
our  poor  farmers  were  working  like  slaves  to  feed 
themselves  and  other  countries,  and  thousands  of  our 
own  workmen  were  starving  like  wrecked  mariners  on 
a  broken  mast,  unable  to  get  food. 


the  cause  of  labor 's  discontent.  79 

3. — Discharging  of  Employees  as  a  Cause  op 
Uncertainty. 

This  is  another  fruit  of  our  present  system.  It  may 
be  all  right  to  discharge  a  man  who  is  inefficient,  and 
from  a  legal  standpoint,  it  is  all  right  to  discharge  a 
man  for  any  reason  or  for  no  reason.  We  will  take 
a  recent  example;  let  that  suffice  for  all  others.  In 
the  spring  and  summer  of  1904,  between  fifty  and  one 
hundred  thousand  men  were  thrown  out  of  employ- 
ment by  the  railroads  alone  in  a  short  time.  The 
managers  of  the  railroads  claimed  that  **  depression 
in  business ''  compelled  them  to  make  retrenchments, 
and  so  they  discharged  the  men  without  making  any 
provision  for  their  support.  At  the  same  time  other 
corporations  that  employed  much  help  also  discharged 
a  certain  per  cent,  of  their  employees  for  the  same 
reason.  It  is  said  that  in  the  Wall  Street  Gambling 
Centre,  over  two  thousand  clerks  were  discharged  be- 
cause times  were  dull.  Incidents  of  this  character 
could  be  repeated  times  without  number.  It  is  in  all 
a  painful  comment  on  our  American  life,  and  those 
who  suffer  most,  seem  to  know  least  how  to  remedy 
the  situation.  This  is  one  of  the  greatest  curses  to  the 
man  who  works — ^he  can  never  feel  safe  as  to  his  fu- 
ture. He  can  buy  a  home  in  the  hope  of  paying  for 
it  by  installments,  and  then  he  must  feel  uncertain  as 
to  the  permanence  of  his  work,  and  in  altogether  too 
many  cases,  his  home  is  sold  and  he  must  lose  what  he 
has  paid  thereon. 


80  the  cause  of  labor 's  discontent. 

4. — Various  Causes  of  Uncertainty. 

There  are  many  other  conditions  that  make  work 
uncertain.  The  formation  of  Trusts  often  throws  men 
out  of  work;  by  combining  certain  industries,  fewer 
men  are  required  to  do  the  work;  the  introduction  of 
new  machinery  also  throws  many  workmen  ^*out  of  a 
job.''  We  welcome  the  new  machinery,  but  we  grieve 
at  the  fate  of  the  poor  worker  who  has  depended  upon 
his  trade  and  who  is  now  past  middle  life,  and  is  su- 
perseded by  the  machine  that  takes  his  place.  Neither 
the  country  nor  the  state  has  made  any  provision  for 
such  emergencies.  The  honest  tradesman  is  simply 
cast  off  to  get  a  living  the  best  way  he  can,  somewhat 
after  the  fashion  of  a  horse  that  has  worked  hard 
until  it  is  of  no  more  use  and  is  cast  off  into  the  field 
to  get  its  living  as  best  it  can,  except  that  Society  does 
not  furnish  the  field  for  the  man. 

The  army  of  the  unemployed  is  strangely  growing 
larger,  notwithstanding  our  general  prosperity.  La- 
bor Commissioner  Wright,  drew  the  net  of  investiga- 
tion over  25,000  families  in  thirty-three  states  in  the 
year  1903,  and  found  that  almost  half  of  the  wage- 
earners  of  these  families  were  idle  part  of  the  time 
during  the  year.  The  average  length  of  idleness  was 
almost  ten  weeks.  If  you  study  statistics  on  this  ques- 
tion, you  will  find  that  on  an  average  there  are  be- 
tween two  and  four  million  wage-earners  idle  every 
day  in  the  year  in  our  country.  This  brings  to  us  a 
story  of  distress,  and  only  a  few  amongst  the  capital- 
ists seem  to  care.  We  need  not  mention  any  more 
causes  of  the  uncertainty  of  work,  as  enough  has  been 
given  to  demonstrate  its  curses. 


THE  CAUSE  OF  LABOR 's  DISCONTENT.  81 

IV.~BLESSINGS  CHANGED  TO  CUESES. 
1. — Invention. 

It  is  terrible  to  know  that  angels  should  be  turned 
into  demons,  or  blessings  changed  into  burdens.  This 
is  what  the  workingmen  of  the  world  have  experienced 
in  regard  to  the  things  that  should  have  lightened 
their  burdens.  What  a  glorious  age  of  invention  we 
have  had,  eclipsing  the  past,  glorifying  the  present, 
and  giving  promise  of  the  most  golden  age  of  material 
advancement  that  the  world  has  yet  seen. 

Just  as  the  year  1492  stands  for  the  discovery  of 
America,  with  all  the  consequent  blessings  that  fol- 
lowed, so  the  year  1769  stands  for  the  discovery  and 
utilization  of  the  power  of  steam  with  all  the  wonderful 
events  that  have  succeeded  it;  just  as  America  was  to 
op(3n  the  door  of  liberty  to  the  world,  so  the  coming 
of  machinery  gave  promise  to  make  men  more  free 
from  their  slavish  tasks. 

The  introduction  of  machinery  that  came  after  the 
steam  engine  had  been  applied  to  industry,  accom- 
plished all  and  more  than  what  was  expected  of  it.  It 
has  done  marvels  in  accomplishing  results  with  the 
least  possible  labor.  Eeliable  statistics  tell  us  that 
the  steam  harvester  can  reap  and  bind  the  waving 
grain  of  ninety  acres  in  one  day,  requiring  only  the 
work  of  three  men.  Who  would  be  dull  enough  to  say 
that  it  were  better  to  hire  a  host  of  men  to  do  the  same 
work  in  the  old-fashioned  way?  With  the  McKay 
machiue,  one  man  can  handle  shoes  sixty  times  as  fast 
as  he  could  without  it.  In  the  manufacture  of 
matches,  three  hundred  girls,  by  the  aid  of  machinery, 
will  make  as  many  matches  as  seventy-five  hundred 


82  THE  CAUSE  OF  LABOURS  DISCONTENT. 

men  could  formerly  make.  Since  the  perfecting  of 
watch-factory  machinery,  it  is  possible  to  manufacture 
nearly  six  hundred  thousand  watches  in  a  year  at  one 
place.  In  the  up-to-date  steel  works,  four  men  can 
do  as  much  work  as  one  hundred  and  forty  men  could 
do  in  the  old-fashioned  way.  In  weaving  with  mod- 
ern machinery,  one  man  can  do  nearly  as  much  work 
as  one  hundred  men  could  do  with  the  old-time  hand 
loom,  and,  startling  as  it  may  seem,  we  are  reliably 
informed  that  spinning  machines  tended  by  one  over- 
seer and  two  girls,  can  turn  out  more  yarn  than  over 
ten  thousand  hand  spinners  could  do  in  the  days  of 
yore.  Let  us  give  one  more  example  as  described  by 
the  '* Cleveland  Citizen:^' 

**The  new  70,000  horsepower  station  of  the  big 
street  railway  monopoly  in  New  York  is  a  model 
labor-saving  institution.  The  combine  operates  3,000 
cars  on  217  miles  of  track  in  a  territory  ten  miles  long 
and  two  miles  wide.  To  get  an  idea  of  the  scientific 
manner  in  which  labor-saving  machinery  performs 
the  work,  we  cull  the  following  example  from  the  ex- 
haustive description.  The  coal  required  to  operate 
this  immense  plant  is  unloaded  from  barges  in  the 
East  Eiver,  weighed  and  delivered  to  and  fed  into 
the  furnaces  by  only  four  men!  These  four  men,  by 
operating  the  machinery,  handle  from  80  to  180  tons 
an  hour.  The  ashes  are  also  gathered  up  and  dumped 
upon  barges  by  automatic  machinery,  which  never 
goes  on  strike  and  never  boycotts.'' 

We  are  told  that  the  machinery  in  the  Common- 
wealth of  Massachusetts  can  do  as  much  work  as  fifty 
million  men,  and  that  the  latest  improved  machinery 
of  Great  Britain  can  do  the  work  of  over  five  hundred 
million  men. 


THE  CAUSE  OF  LABOR ^S  DISCONTENT.  83 

Does  it  not  appear  that  when  work  can  be  done  so 
much  more  easily  by  machinery,  that  the  workingmen 
should  look  upon  such  inventions  as  ministering 
angels  coming  to  their  relief,  or,  in  other  words,  has 
the  laborer  any  right  to  expect  that  his  burden  should 
be  lighter  in  the  presence  of  iron  and  steel  muscles 
that  move  under  the  power  of  steam'  and  electricity? 
Certainly  he  has  a  right  to  share  the  benefits,  but  how 
has  it  affected  his  condition?  Take  a  sober  glimpse 
of  the  past.  Under  the  old  system,  the  individual 
hand-worker  did  most  of  his  manufacturing  in  or 
about  his  humble  home.  He  bought  the  raw  material 
and  sold  the  finished  product.  When  machinery 
came,  men,  women  and  children  were  crowded  into 
factories  under  the  new  ^^wage  system. '*  Never  a 
more  sudden  transformation  took  place  in  the  indus- 
trial world.  It  was  a  journey  from  the  individual  to 
the  collective;  each  owner  of  a  factory  bought  the 
raw  materials  and  made  all  the  profit  he  could.  He 
paid  the  employees  not  what  he  considered  the  work- 
men's rightful  share  of  the  product,  hut  the  lowest 
sum  for  which  he  could  persuade  them  to  work.  This 
was  the  beginning  of  the  new  order  which  has  not 
yet  had  its  end,  and  it  is  becoming  more  and  more 
clear  that  the  worker  is  being  robbed  (pardon  the 
term)  of  what  rightfully  belongs  to  him,  and  we  must 
not,  in  all  cases,  blame  the  employer  for  the  robbing. 

The  nation  and  upper  classes  are  growing  enor- 
mously rich  on  the  fruits  of  labor.  Under  this  de- 
ceptive wage  system,  the  poor  workman  is  a  slave, 
as  we  stated  in  a  former  chapter.  His  bondage  is  so 
great  that  he  is  being  crushed  constantly  by  the  hand 
that  he  is  filling  with  gold.    In  the  name  of  justice  and 


84  THE  CAUSE  OF  LABOR 's  DISCONTENT. 

the  God  of  justice,  we  declare  that  the  laborer  is  en- 
titled to  a  more  equitable  distribution  of  the  fruits  of 
his  labor.  Why  should  capitalists  and  corporations 
enrich  themselves  so  enormously  by  gathering  in 
the  increased  fruits  of  machinery? 

In  this  manner  the  angel  has  been  turned  into  a 
demon.  When  machines  were  first  introduced  into 
the  mills  of  England,  and  large  numbers  of  employees 
were  discharged,  there  followed  scenes  of  bloodshed 
and  riot.  The  men  who  had  lost  their  situations 
looked  upon  the  machinery  as  an  enemy,  and  in  many 
instances,  raids  were  made  upon  the  work-shops  and 
the  machines  were  broken  to  pieces  by  the  enraged 
men.  This  led  to  the  passage  of  a  severe  law  attaching 
a  death  penalty  to  a  machine-breaker,  and  more  than 
one  man  lost  his  life  in  this  fanatical  fight  against 
what  he  considered  his  greatest  foe.  It  does  not  re- 
quire a  logician  to  see  that  under  the  proper  system 
of  economics  there  would  be  no  necessity  for  such 
severe  and  horrible  legislation. 

When  the  syster~  of  private  ownership  has  passed 
from  the  earth,  and  the  terrible  ghosts  of  greed  and 
graft  follow  the  corpse,  then  every  device  that  saves 
labor  will  bring  some  relief  to  the  whole  mass  of  la- 
borers, and  everybody  will  share  alike  in  the  benefits 
of  invention  and  in  the  utilization  of  the  natural  forces 
that  are  being  harnessed  to  serve  the  purposes  of  man. 

2. — Immigration. 

We  will  not  discuss  at  this  place  whether  immigra- 
tion is  helpful  or  harmful  to  the  people  of  the  United 
States;  we  will  only  consider  it  as  it  affects  the  con- 
dition of  the  laborers  of  our  country. 


THE  CAUSE  OF  LABOR 's  DISCONTENT.  85 

The  immigration  question  did  not  receive  any  seri- 
ous consideration  before  the  year  1821.  At  that  time 
the  Government  made  arrangements  to  take  statistics 
of  all  persons  who  came  to  the  United  States.  Not 
until  the  middle  of  the  Nineteenth  Century  did  immi- 
gration rise  to  large  proportions;  the  numbers  then 
coming  from  the  countries  of  the  old  world  averaged 
over  250,000  annually,  and  before  the  Century  was 
three-fourths  gone,  there  came  to  our  shores  over 
500,000  annually. 

The  incoming  of  such  vast  numbers  was  a  terrible 
strain  in  the  labor  market,  and  instead  of  being  a 
blessing  to  the  American  worker,  it  was  another  case 
of  the  angel  being  turned  into  a  demon.  Instead  of 
lightening  the  burdens  of  the  American  worker,  it 
compelled  him  to  sell  his  labor  in  competition  with 
the  more  untutored  and  more  untrained  laborers  that 
came  flooding  in  to  bid  for  work  in  the  American  mar- 
ket. There  is  no  object  lesson  in  all  history  that  fur- 
nishes a  clearer  conception  of  the  evils  of  the  wage 
system  than  the  lesson  that  immigration  furnishes. 

We  do  not  wish  to  east  reflection  upon  any  other 
nationality,  but  the  truth  stands  before  us  that  many 
of  these  immigrants  from  Hungary,  Ireland,  Italy, 
and  other  countries  were  from  the  lowest  classes  of 
people,  who  were  accustomed  to  live  in  their  own 
country  on  a  starvation  diet.  As  they  came  to 
America,  they  were  able  to  live  cheaper  than  the  most 
common  of  our  American  laborers,  and  therefore, 
rather  than  do  without  work,  they  sold  their  labor  in 
many  instances  at  considerably  less  than  a  dollar  a 
day.  In  fact  they  worked  for  any  wages  they  could 
get.    Some  of  our  American  contractors,  ever  anxious 


86  THE  CAUSE  OF  LABOR  ^S  DISCONTENT. 

to  make  all  that  they  possibly  could  out  of  a  contract, 
were  willing  enough  to  take  advantage  of  the  situa- 
tion and  hire  this  labor  so  as  to  get  their  work  done  as 
cheaply  as  possible.  The  natural  result  following 
these  conditions  was  that  our  resident  laborers  were 
often  pushed  to  the  background,  and  could  take  their 
choice  to  work  for  a  mere  pittance,  or  not  work  at  all. 
It  is  not  strange  that  American  laborers  become  hos- 
tile, in  many  sections,  to  this  incoming  flood  of  immi- 
grants. When  we  look  at  the  situation  fairly,  we  can 
easily  account  for  the  rash  acts  committed  and  the 
bitter  feelings  that  existed  in  many  corners  of  our 
fair  country. 

If  we  lived  under  a  system  of  Municipal  and  public 
ownership,  the  coming  of  a  few  million  immigrants 
into  our  country  who  would  be  willing  to  work  ten 
hours  a  day  at  hard  labor  for  one  dollar  a  day  or 
more,  would  only  lighten  the  burden  of  resident 
workers,  if  our  government  would  permit  such  un- 
charitable discrimination.  We  are  only  speaking  of 
a  situation  that  could  hardly  be  possible.  As  it  is,  in- 
stead of  being  a  blessing,  the  inmiigration  of  laborers 
into  our  country  proves  to  be  a  burden,  and  only  one 
class  of  people  are  reaping  the  benefit,  and  they  are 
the  capitalists  and  corporations.  It  is  the  same  old 
story,  that  the  rich  have  been  growing  richer  upon 
the  hard  toil  and  sacrifice  of  others,  while  the  common 
people  are  called  upon  to  bear  heavier  burdens  on 
account  of  these  conditions.  When  will  the  happy  day 
come  that  angels  will  no  longer  be  turned  into  demons, 
and  when  blessings  will  no  longer  become  burdens,  but 
when  each  one  alike  shall  receive  the  benefits  that 
come  from  the  discoveryj  the  inyeation  or  the  sacrifice 
of  another? 


CHAPTEE  VIL 


CO/MTf/MUCD 
B. 

ARISING   FROM  THE  ATTITUDE  AND 
EXAMPLE  OF  THE  RICH. 

Among  the  many  causes  of  unrest  among  the  work- 
ingmen  is  the  manner  in  which  certain  rich  people  use 
their  wealth,  and  the  spirit  which  they  manifest  to- 
ward the  poor;  also  the  attitude  of  certain  corpora- 
tions toward  their  employees  in  times  of  strikes  and 
during  other  kinds  of  disturbances.  Among  the  rich 
there  are  many  who  have  used,  and  are  still  using  their 
wealth  in  a  very  commendable  manner.  These  excep- 
tional cases  are  the  bright  lights  along  the  path  of 
financial  frenzy.  The  man  who  realizes  his  responsi- 
bility, and  studies  to  use  his  wealth  in  the  best  possi- 
ble manner,  is  a  mighty  moral  force,  and  is  ever  giv- 
ing rebuke  to  the  selfish,  miserly  men  of  wealth  whose 
sole  ambition  is  to  grasp  and  accumulate  at  any  cost. 

The  rich  man  should  recognize  his  many  obliga- 
tions, and,  if  he  wishes  to  please  God,  he  must  not  for- 

87 
6 


88  THE  CAUSE  OF  LABOR 's  DISCONTENT. 

get  that  he  is  a  steward,  and  is  held  responsible  for 
the  manner  in  which  he  uses  his  wealth,  and  all  the 
other  powers  at  his  command.  This  law  is  so  simple 
that  it  needs  no  line  of  proof.  The  fact  of  human  re- 
sponsibility to  God  is  one  of  the  greatest  realities  of 
life.  The  poor  man  must  also  give  an  account  of  his 
stewardship  in  finances,  influence,  opportunity,  ability 
and  every  other  quality  of  the  body  and  soul.  If 
money  is  one's  greatest  power,  then  money  is  also 
one's  greatest  opportunity  to  do  good,  and  he  should 
not  use  it  to  oppress  individuals,  or  impose  burdens 
on  society,  which  will  all  come  to  light  in  the  final  day 
of  reckoning.  There  is  no  truth  more  firmly  estab- 
lished than  that  man  must  give  an  account  of  his 
deeds  in  the  body,  at  the  final  judgment. 

We  have  personally  known  in  our  time  a  few  men  of 
moderate  wealth,  who  keenly  realized  their  responsi- 
bility to  God.  Their  daily  prayers  breathed  out  the 
request  to  the  Infinite  One  for  guidance  in  the  hand- 
ling of  their  money.  Suppose  that  all  the  corpora- 
tions and  money  kings  of  our  country  yielded  the 
fruits  of  such  a  spirit,  would  there  then  be  any  cause 
for  labor  uprisings!  No  general  movement  would  be 
known,  for  our  Social  System,  defective  as  it  is  under 
the  cloud  of  private  ownership  and  competition, 
would  then  render  to  every  man  a  fuller  product  of 
his  labor. 

It  needs  no  argument  to  prove  that  the  spirit  of  the 
great  majority  of  our  rich  men  and  our  rich  corpora- 
tions is  just  the  opposite  from  what  it  ought  to  be.  The 
heartless  rich  are  using  their  vast  possessions  as  abso- 
lutely their  own;  they  seem  to  care  not  for  God,  for 
man  or  Satan.    A  true  photograph  of  this  class  re- 


THE  CAUSE  OF  LABOR 's  DISCONTENT.  89 

veals  a  picture  of  indifference,  heartlessness,  foolish- 
ness, and  fashionable  robbery. 

L— THE  INDIFFERENCE  OF  THE  RICH. 

The  spirit  of  indifference  manifested  by  so  many 
of  the  wealthy  toward  the  poor  has  been  breeding 
more  misery  and  hostility  of  feeling  than  one  can  im- 
agine. No  doubt  there  are  many  humane  hearts 
among  the  wealthy,  but  the  poor  judge  by  actions.  It 
is  sadly  true  that  many  of  the  rich  are  very  careless 
in  paying  their  bills  to  the  poorer  class,  and  there  is 
an  unwritten  law  that  it  is  an  insult  for  the  poor  to 
ask  for  their  money.  Marion  Harland  publishes  a  let- 
ter that  tells  its  own  story  along  this  line.  We  take 
the  privilege  of  reproducing  it  from  the  **  North 
American : ' ' 

December  14,  1900, 
**Dear  Marion  Harland: 

**I  am  going  to  tell  you  one  or  two  true  stories — 
true,  every  word.  I  am  a  nurse,  and  see  a  great  deal 
of  both  rich  and  poor.  To-day  I  made  a  call  on  a 
young  woman  who  supports  herself  and  an  old  crip- 
pled mother  by  lace-mending.  She  works  for  several 
of  the  so-called  *400.'  When  I  came  to  see  her,  or, 
rather,  her  sick  mother,  there  was  no  fire  in  the  stove, 
very  little  food,  and,  of  course,  not  a  cent  in  the  house. 
The  young  woman  told  me  she  had  bills  out  for  nearly 
$60.00  and  that  she  hoped  every  moment,  with  hope 
against  hope,  she  would  get  her  pay;  that  some  one  of 
her  rich  customers  would  remember  her  bill  and  send 
her  a  check.  She  doesn't  dare  ask  for  her  pay,  or  she 
would  lose  their  custom.  So  she  and  her  poor  invalid 


90  THE  CAUSE  OF  LABOR  ^S  DISCONTENT. 

mother  have  to  freeze  and  starve  because  million- 
airesses don't  remember  to  pay  a  poor,  hard-working 
woman.  Unfortunately  such  things  happen  every  day 
in  this  city.  Eich  ladies,  who  have  only  to  go  to  their 
writing  desks  and  fill  out  and  sign  a  check,  let  day 
after  day,  week  after  week,  pass,  without  remember- 
ing there  are  poor  women  suffering,  starving  because 
of  their  thoughtlessness.  That  poor  invalid  will  very 
likely  die  because  women,  whose  husbands  and 
fathers  are  worth  millions,  *  don't  think'  to  pay  what 
they  owe,  or  are  too  lazy  to  send  the  check. 

**I  know  that  young  lace-mender  personally,  and  that 
what  she  told  me  is  true.  Often  mistress  and  maid 
employ  the  same  workers.  The  maid  pays  her  bills 
promptly.  The  lady  will  not  pay  hers,  perhaps,  in 
several  weeks.  Of  course,  I  helped  the  woman  to  get 
fuel  and  food,  but  I  fear  it  was  too  late. 

**Not  so  very  long  ago  another  woman,  a  seamstress, 
took  a  bad  cold,  and  died  literally  of  want.  There  was 
about  $80.00  due  her  from  prominent  society  ladies. 

*^I  cannot  forget  the  sight  of  those  two  women  freez- 
ing and  starving,  because  they  don't  get  the  money 
for  which  they  have  worked  honestly  and  hard.  If 
you  could  see  and  hear  only  half  of  what  goes  on  in 
this  line,  you  would  not  wonder  that  there  is  so  much 
bitter  feeling  against  the  rich." 

We  have  good  judgment  enough  to  admit  that  such 
cases  are  the  exceptions  with  most  of  the  rich,  but  it 
requires  extreme  cases  to  fully  illustrate  the  truth.  It 
is  strange  that  the  ones  who  have  the  most  money  take 
the  most  advantage  of  the  credit  system.  They  leave 
their  grocery  bills  and  certain  other  bills  run  three,  six, 
and  twelve  or  more  months  before  payment  is  made. 


THE  CAUSE  OF  LABOR  *S  DISCONTENT.  91 

The  incidents  given  above  are  not  the  worst  fruits 
of  indifference  on  the  part  of  the  rich;  but  one  result 
more  disastrous  than  all  the  rest  is  that  it  has  widened 
the  chasm  between  the  rich  and  the  poor.  Under  our 
present  competitive  system,  it  is  necessary  that  sym- 
pathy and  confidence  should  prevail  between  the  rich 
and  the  poor.  These  feelings  are  largely  unknown 
and  everything  has  been  resolved  to  the  cold  ethics 
of  business  and  necessity.  This  charge  we  lay  before 
the  rich;  they  are  more  responsible  than  the  laborers 
for  our  present  strained  relations  between  the  two 
classes. 

IL-^HEAETLESSNESS  OF  CORPORATIONS. 

Under  this  head,  we  speak  particularly  of  corpora- 
tions. Their  attitude  has  done  much  to  provoke  the 
workingmen  to  anger  and  rebellion.  During  the  strike 
at  Pullman  some  years  ago,  an  investigation  took 
place,  and  the  Vice-President  of  the  concern  admitted 
that  while  the  receipts  of  the  company  had  been  re- 
duced $52,000,  it  had  at  the  same  time  and  for  the 
same  period  reduced  the  wages  of  its  employees 
$60,000;  yet,  with  all  this  reduction  in  wages,  it  did 
not  cut  down  its  charges  for  house  rent  to  the  em- 
ployees, or  the  salaries  for  the  officials  of  the  com- 
pany, nor  its  dividends  to  the  stockholders.  This  is 
hearties  sues  s  indeed,  when  a  company  with  twenty- 
five  millions  of  undivided  surplus  deliberately  places 
the  entire  burden  of  hard  times  upon  its  dependent 
and  helpless  employees.  This  injustice  is  not  prac- 
ticed by  all  corporations,  but  it  has  prevailed  to  a 
very  large  extent.    Many  pathetic  incidents  have  come 


92  THE  CAUSE  OF  LABOR 's  DISCONTENT. 

to  US  from  the  coal  strike  of  1902,  among  them  is  the 
story  of  a  miner  who  was  evicted  from  his  home  by  a 
certain  coal  company,  because  he  could  not  pay  rent 
during  the  strike.  We  give  an  extract  from  the  daily 
press  on  the  sad  experience  of  this  miner,  who  gave 
his  sworn  testimony  before  the  Commission  appointed 
by  President  Eoosevelt.  He  was  decrepit  and  marked 
from  many  injuries  received  while  in  the  service  of 
the  company.  The  miner  declared  that  when  the  of- 
ficers of  the  law  came  to  force  them  out  of  their  rented 
home  his  wife  was  sick  and  her  100-year-old  mother 
was  blind  and  unable  to  walk.  The  day  on  which  they 
were  **  thrown  ouf  was  rainy.  He  took  them  as  best 
he  could  to  Hazleton,  seven  miles  away,  and  placed 
them  in  a  cold,  damp,  empty  house.  This  was  when  the 
atmosphere  on  the  Hazleton  mountain  was  quite  cold. 
His  wife  became  worse.  Medical  aid  was  kindly  fur- 
nished free  by  a  Hazleton  doctor  but  it  did  not  help 
her  much. 

**We  were  greatly  worried  because  of  our  having 
been  turned  out  of  our  house  and  one  night,  *  *  the  wit- 
ness said,  between  sobs,  **she  died.''  **She  diedf 
exclaimed  Judge  Gray,  who  was  pacing  to  and  fro 
across  the  room,  as  he  quickly  turned  when  he  heard 
the  man's  last  words.  ^*Yes,  sir;  she  died  and  I  buried 
her  yesterday."  The  witness  went  on  to  say  that  he 
did  not  know  whether  the  centenarian  was  alive  to-day 
or  not.  **She  was  in  a  bad  condition  owing  to  her 
daughter's  death  when  I  left  home  last  night," 
said  he. 

Circumstances  like  the  foregoing  do  much  to  incense 
the  masses  against  the  employer.  The  Coal  Company 
had  an  object  in  view  in  evicting  its  tenants.     It  was 


THE   CAUSE    OF   LABOR 's   DISCONTENT.  93 

no  doubt  one  more  effort  to  whip  the  men  to  terms  by 
making  them  suffer  the  full  consequences  of  the  strike, 
but  in  this  case  an  unfortunate  result  made  the  com- 
pany's action  appear  so  much  the  more  heartless. 
These  are  only  a  few  isolated  instances ;  if  space  per- 
mitted we  could  give  many  more. 

IIL—FOOLISHNESS  OF  THE  EICH. 

When  we  speak  of  the  foolishness  of  the  rich,  we 
refer  to  the  bold  extravagances  that  have  made  the 
blood  of  the  poverty-stricken  classes  run  fire.  When 
we  hear  tales  of  more  money  being  spent  by  a  wealthy 
woman  on  a  poodle  dog  than  a  workingman  spends  on 
a  whole  family,  we  are  disgusted;  when  we  hear  of 
thousands  of  dollars  being  wasted  to  gratify  the  mor- 
bid appetite  of  a  man  of  wealth,  we  are  shocked ;  when 
we  hear  of  wild  frivolity  at  a  reckless  cost,  we  are 
more  than  ever  reminded  of  our  own  hopelessness,  if 
we  ever  fall  into  the  hands  of  such  reckless  rulers. 

Think  of  the  women  who  spend  millions  to  gratify 
their  pride  and  love  of  fashion,  in  the  very  midst  of 
swarming  poverty  and  discontent.  The  artist  who 
wishes  to  draw  a  picture  of  selfishness,  can  find  no 
better  model  than  the  man  or  woman  who  is  making 
a  frantic  effort  to  spend  as  much  money  on  himself  or 
herself  as  possible,  while  he  turns  a  deaf  ear  to  the 
cries  of  the  suffering  world. 

There  is  a  law  of  Scripture,  **Unto  whomsoever 
much  is  given,  of  him  shall  much  be  required."  There 
are  too  many  of  the  wealthy  who  interpret  this  word 
**much''  to  mean  much  extravagance,  fashion,  much 
of  the  overbearing  spirit,  much  tantalizing  of  the 
poor.    Dr.  G.  V.  Reichel  very  forcibly  says: — **The 


94  THE    CAUSE   OF   LABOB'S   DISCONTENT. 

privileged  class  must  set  a  better  example  of  living 
before  the  circmnscribed  classes  can  be  uplifted.  It 
is  only  too  appallingly  true  that  the  power  of  wealth 
in  its  oppression  of  the  poor,  is,  in  many  instances, 
not  short  of  murderous.  Hence  we  witness  a  change 
of  opinion  concerning  the  privileged  class;  and  the 
much  vaunted  ease,  the  unjustifiable  indolence,  and  the 
ofttime  unquestioned  worthlessness,  so  characteristic 
of  it,  had  disenchanted  the  vision  of  wealth,  and  ex- 
cited among  the  poor  a  bitterness  of  hate  that  grows 
ominous. '^ 

We  are  not  alarmists,  but  we  wish  to  say  in  the  line 
of  history,  that  the  Reign  of  Terror  came  like  a  thun- 
der roar  after  the  gathering  storm  of  ages,  and  the 
conditions  existing  now  in  our  country  indicate  that 
imless  radical  changes  occur,  there  will  come  some 
calamity  of  which  no  one  can  now  make  an  adequate 
prophecy. 

IV.— FASHIONABLE  ROBBERY. 

Those  among  the  wealthy  who  have  gained  theii: 
gold  by  questionable  methods  have  done  more  to 
prejudice  the  working  masses  against  the  rich  than  all 
the  others  combined. 

1. — Usury. 

This  is  a  common  method  of  fashionable  robbery 
and  has  crushed  one  farmer  after  another  in  the  west- 
ern part  of  the  country.  Some  of  the  states  allow  the 
lender  of  the  money  to  charge  a  high  rate  of  interest, 
even  as  high  as  12  per  cent,  or  more  is  sometimes  ex- 


THE    CAUSE    OF    LABOR  ^S   DISCONTENT.  95 

acted  by  the  lender,  who  in  one  way  or  another  takes 
this  advantage,  just  because  conditions  enable  him  to 
do  so.  As  a  result  many  of  those  farmers  having 
mortgages  against  them  are  unable  to  meet  the  inter- 
est, and  their  hard-earned  savings  of  years  are  merci- 
lessly swallowed  by  the  mortgage.  If  the  farmer  is 
able  to  pay  the  interest,  it  only  means  that  he  must 
keep  himself  on  the  ** grindstone,^*  so  as  to  be  able  to 
meet  it  again  when  it  is  due. 

Why  is  it  legal  to  charge  10  per  cent,  interest?  The 
answer  to  this  question  reveals  the  close  relation  be- 
tween the  law-making  body  and  the  men  of  money. 
One  of  the  reasons  that  the  Eussians  hated  the  Jews 
was  because  the  Jews  in  some  localities  were  the  land- 
lords and  charged  large  rents,  enough  to  make  10  per 
cent,  or  20  per  cent,  on  the  investment.  The  fire  of 
anger  among  the  poor  renters  blazed  into  a  fury  until 
it  was  uncontrollable  in  the  spirit  of  the  mob,  and  the 
fearful  results  of  massacre  followed. 

2. — Concerning  the  Market.  ~~ 

It  is  not  right  to  hold  prejudice  against  the  rich 
people  as  a  class,  just  because  a  few  of  their  number 
resort  to  low  methods  to  gather  wealth.  The  common 
people  have  murmured  their  complaints  against  the 
air,  because  the  man  who  corners  the  market  is  deaf 
to  the  suffering  cries  he  may  cause. 

The  man  who  wishes  to  * 'corner''  a  commodity,  se- 
lects something  that  people  must  or  will  have;  the 
reason  for  this  is  apparent.  Wheat  is  often  chosen, 
and  sometimes  corn  or  oats,  or  perchance  some  other 
necessity.     Then   the  people  consciously  or  uncon- 


96  THE    CAUSE   OF   LABOR 's   DISCONTENT. 

sciously  pay  an  extra  price  in  order  to  get  the  **  cor- 
nered*' goods.  This  is  robbery,  and  he  who  is  able 
to  succeed  at  it  is  called  ** smart/'  and  his  friends 
compliment  him  on  his  good  fortune.  These  are  only 
a  few  snap-shot  pictures  of  the  fashionable  robbery 
that  is  being  committed  constantly,  and  which  is  ever 
causing  restlessness  and  discontent  among  the  work- 
ing classes.  We  cannot  censure  the  toiling  slaves  for 
making  their  protest  strong  and  clear.  We  think  it 
only  natural  to  hear  their  clamor  for  equity,  and  the 
Ear  that  is  ever  sensitive  has  heard  their  cry,  and  the 
redemption  that  has  been  long  coming,  is  already  in 
sight. 

The  next  chapter  on  Grafting  and  Unfair  Legisla- 
tion will  give  more  light  on  some  of  the  fashionable 
types  of  robbery. 


The  Gardener  at  Work. — According  to  the  remarks  of  a  very  rich 
man's  son,  it  is  proper  to  clip  999  buds  (small  dealers)  in  order  to  develop 
the  one  flower  called  the  "American  Beauty  Rose"  (Monopoly). 


II 


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CHAPTER  VIII. 


(Continued  ) 


ARISING  FROM  GRAFTING  AND  UNFAIR 
LEGISLATION. 

I.— GRAFT. 

Another  fruitful  source  of  discontent  among  work- 
ingmen  is  the  partiality  of  law-makers  and  the  prac- 
tice of  Grafting  that  is  sapping  the  life  blood  from  the 
body  of  our  nation.  As  the  secular  press  becomes 
more  fearless  in  exposing  the  crimes  of  public  men, 
the  people  are  learning  more  accurately  the  facts  con- 
cerning the  lying  and  stealing  in  places  of  public  trust, 
and  they  are  being  convinced  that  these  dangers 
threaten  the  life  of  our  country.  The  hideous  Graft 
Octopus  stretches  its  threatening  arms  in  all  direc- 
tions, ?nd  who  will  say  that  the  illustration  on  an  ac- 
companying page  exaggerates  the  condition.  Take 
a  glimpse  of  our  nation  in  1905,  as  brought  to  the 
attention  of  the  people  through  the  public  press  of 

99 


100  THE   CAUSE    OF   LABOR 's   DISCONTENT. 

Philadelphia,  New  York,  Chicago,  and  other  great 
centres  of  population.  Information  came  from  Cali- 
fornia that  one  of  its  state  senators  was  serving  a  five 
years'  sentence  in  penitentiary,  and  that  one  of  the 
tax  collectors  stole  a  quarter  of  a  million,  and  was 
also  serving  a  sentence.  From  the  other  two  Pacific 
Coast  states  of  Oregon  and  Washington,  comes  the 
same  tale  of  woe  concerning  men  in  public  office,  who 
sold  their  birthright  for  a  mess  of  pottage.  From  the 
states  of  the  Middle  West,  especially  Missouri  and  Illi- 
nois, have  come  the  news  of  abundant  and  outrageous 
Grafting. 

Men  who  have  been  honored  with  public  positions 
by  the  vote  of  the  people  have  trampled  under  foot 
their  sacred  trusts,  and  with  seared  consciences,  and 
in  violation  of  every  principle  of  justice  and  right, 
have  used  that  trust  to  enrich  themselves  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  communities  they  had  sworn  to  serve 
with  honor.  From  the  eastern  and  southern  parts  of 
our  great  nation  come  the  same  distressing  tales. 
Texas  is  awakening  to  the  real  situation  of  affairs  be- 
hind the  screens,  and  Ohio  is  afflicted  with  a  company 
of  smaller  Grafters  that  infest  many  of  its  larger 
cities.  Pennsylvania  is  one  of  the  school  teachers  of 
the  nation  on  the  subject  of  Graft,  and  the  state  of 
New  York  has  an  equally  unenviable  record  in  this 
distressingly  dishonorable  business. 

It  would  require  a  volume  to  relate  the  facts  on 
this  subject  even  in  our  own  country.  It  is  so  serious 
'.a  case  that  the  people  are  aroused  and  our  Chief  Ex- 
ecutive is  determined  to  mete  out  punishment  to  the 
offenders.  In  the  year  1905  it  was  seen  in  many  of 
the  Scientific  Bureaus;  in  the  Statistical  Bureaus  of 


THE  CAUSE  OF  LABCil V.I^^SCjP^jrTEl^rT,.  ;  J     101 


the  Department  of  Agriculture;  in  the  Government 
Printing  Office,  and  in  other  departments  of  our  na- 
tional service,  that  certain  of  the  leading  employees 
placed  their  private  interests  ahead  of  the  Govern- 
ment, and,  as  a  consequence,  the  President  declared 
that  laws  must  be  formed  or  enacted  to  bring  speedy 
punishment  to  those  who  betrayed  their  public  trust. 
He  expresses  himself  on  this  wise: — ** Crime  in  the 
government  service  is  the  most  detestable  that  the 
courts  have  to  deal  with.  It  is  betrayal  of  confidence 
in  its  worst  form  and  abandonment  of  every  principle 
of  patriotism  and  good  citizenship/* 

Happy  the  nation  which  has  as  its  chief  ruler  a  man 
who  is  not  afraid  of  men  or  devils,  and  who  has  the 
courage  of  his  convictions.  President  Eoosevelt  in  his 
general  attitude  became  one  of  the  greatest  political 
heroes  that  ever  graced  the  Presidential  Chair,  and  we 
rejoice  that  millions  have  held  this  opinion.  Notwith- 
standing what  he  accomplished  to  arouse  public  senti- 
ment against  public  crimes,  and  in  elevating  the  public 
service  to  a  plane  of  honest  efficiency,  such  as  it 
never  occupied  before;  yet  the  laboring  masses 
have  not  been  quieted  in  their  suspicions.  The 
awakened  public  well  knew  that  the  reform  efforts 
of  1905  were  a  repetition  of  the  old  saying,  **Lock  the 
door  after  the  horse  is  stolen.**  This  is  surely  wiser 
than  carelessly  to  continue  leaving  the  door  unlocked ; 
but  the  suspicion  in  the  hearts  of  the  masses  is  that 
there  are  many  doors  yet  open  that  ought  to  be  closed. 
As  the  laboring  men  continue  reading  of  the  dishonest 
thousands  who  are  living  without  work  upon  the  pro- 
ceeds of  their  pilfering,  they  will  become  more  and 
more  settled  in  their  conviction  that  our  social  system 


102  '^ECE  C4TTSB  OF  LABOE^S  DISCONTENT. 

is  radically  wrong,  and  that  the  army  of  workers  will 
never  get  justice  until  a  new  economic  system  pre- 
vails. In  this  feverish  discontent  the  millions  of 
workers  are  trying  to  feel  their  way  toward  better 
conditions,  and  as  soon  as  they  can  see  a  reasonable 
method  of  relief,  the  masses  will  move  in  that  direc- 
tion. The  only  reason  the  great  mass  of  people  suffer 
60  long  the  evils  they  have  endured,  is  because  of  their 
helplessness  and  ignorance  of  any  open  door  of  escape. 

II.— UNFAIR  LEGISLATION. 

Another  potent  cause  of  discontent  is  unfair  and 
unequal  legislation,  or  a  discrimination  between  the 
rich  and  poor  under  the  law.  This  is  nothing  new, 
for  it  has  been  the  curse  of  the  ages,  that,  with  few 
exceptions,  the  poor  man  always  gets  the  hardest 
blow.  As  we  look  back  to  the  middle  ages  and  study 
its  history,  we  find  that  the  statutes  of  that  period 
did  not  very  much  take  into  account  the  workiugman. 
The  laws  were  framed  according  to  the  wishes  of  the 
landlords,  or  more  properly  speaking,  the  feudal 
lords.  If  at  any  particular  place  a  few  workingmen 
tried  to  combine  for  mutual  benefit,  it  was  not  long 
before  a  law  was  passed  to  prohibit  such  privileges. 
We  are  told  by  reliable  writers  that  one  of  the  great 
curses  in  England  upon  labor,  existed  in  the  laws 
regarding  Apprentices.  The  employer  and  the  public 
oflficers  could  legally  work  together,  and  they  had 
power  to  fix  the  price  of  wages  and  to  regulate  the 
work  and  the  workers.  The  masters  in  their  heart- 
lessness  played  the  part  of  tyranny  over  the  laborers 
more  shamefully  than  was  witnessed  in  the  days  of 


THE  CAUSE  OF  LABOR  *S  DISCONTENT.  103 

American  slavery.  They  could  compel  a  person  to 
start  work  as  early  as  five  o  'clock  in  the  morning,  and 
to  continue  his  labors  until  7.30  o'clock  in  the  evening 
and  even  later.  These  repulsive  conditions  continued, 
with  varying  intensity,  to  darken  the  social  skies  of, 
England  for  six  hundred  years,  and  not  until  recently 
were  these  laws  completely  repealed.  It  is  true  that 
during  the  past  one  hundred  years  things  have 
changed  very  much,  but  the  real  evil  of  discrimination 
has  not  yet  ceased. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  see  why  a  man  of  wealth  is  usu- 
ally treated  with  more  leniency  than  a  man  of  no 
wealth.  It  is  for  that  reason  that  we  have  considered 
the  subject  of  Graft  in  this  same  chapter.  It  is  com- 
monly known  that  some  men  can  be  bought  for  a  very 
low  sum,  and  therefore,  at  certain  times,  the  man  of 
wealth  can  influence  legislation  in  his  favor.  The 
conmion  people  would  not  feel  the  injustice  so 
strongly,  if  the  burden  of  this  crime  did  not  fall  upon 
their  shoulders. 

The  spirit  of  partiality  in  law  that  had  cursed  Eng- 
land so  long,  came  over  to  America  in  the  Mayflower. 
You  need  but  read  the  simple  laws  that  governed  the 
early  Colonists  to  see  the  tendency  toward  employers. 
The  workingman's  voice  had  but  feeble  influence,  and 
this  same  spirit  continued  to  darken  the  centuries  of 
American  life  ever  since. 

In  the  running  history  of  our  great  country,  we 
have  seen  that  the  Capitalists  and  the  great  corpora- 
tions have  generally  been  able  to  secure  legislation 
in  their  favor.  What  the_laboring  man  received  have 
been  the  few  and  far  between  measures.  Civil  govern- 
ment should  have  no  respect  to  persons.    Class  legis- 


104  THE  CAUSE  OF  LABOR  *S  DISCONTENT. 

lation  is  a  black  crime  which  must  be  accomited  for  in 
the  great  days  of  reckoning  at  the  hands  of  both  hu- 
man and  divine  government.  And  when  we  speak 
about  partiality,  we  refer  to  the  administration  of  the 
law  as  well  as  the  making  of  it,  for  there  is  so  much 
partiality  shown  in  the  execution  of  the  law.  The 
drunken  member  of  a  club  house  is  sent  home  in  a  cab, 
and  the  drunken  poor  man  is  hurried  off  to  the  jail. 
Gambling  in  high  places  is  frequently  overlooked, 
while  the  ^^crap''  players  are  brought  to  justice.  Is 
it  strange  that  the  workingman  should  feel  that  in- 
justice has  been  done  to  him  when  such  partiality  is 
administered  by  the  courts,  a  sample  of  which  we 
quote  from  the  *^ Seattle  Daily  Times.'' 

**Two  weeks  ago  Tony  Jurewich,  virtually  a 
vagrant,  without  friends  or  influence,  was  sentenced 
to  fourteen  years  in  the  state  penitentiary  for  steal- 
ing an  old  overcoat  from  a  room  in  the  Haddon  Flats, 
the  door  of  which  he  found  open. 

*  *  To-day  Clyde  Clancy,  an  adept  in  a  profitable  pro- 
fession, with  good  family  connections  and  friends  hav- 
ing political  influence,  was  sentenced  to  thirty  days  in 
the  county  jail.  His  confessed  crimes,  covering  a 
period  of  two  years,  include  the  robbery  of  scores  of 
rooms,  in  as  many  hotels  in  Seattle  and  Tacoma,  of 
clothing  and  other  portables  valued  at  hundreds  of 
dollars. 

*^The  cases  of  both  criminals  were  handled  by 
Prosecuting  Attorney  Mackintosh  and  both  were  sen- 
tenced by  Superior  Judge  Griflfin.'' 

We  also  quote  some  instances  from  the  **  Appeal  to 
Eeason:'' 


THB   CAUSH   OF  LABOR  ^S  DISCONTENT.  105 

HOW  THE  EICH  EVADE  THE  LAW. 

**The  sons  of  rich  men  who  spend  their  time  gam- 
bling and  consorting  with  harlots,  having  had  their 
gambling  dens  in  Chicago  temporarily  closed,  char- 
tered a  ship  and  went  out  on  the  lake  where  the  racing 
reports  were  wirelessly  sent  them  and  there  gambled. 
This  is  known  to  all  the  people;  the  papers  prate  of 
it ;  the  gamblers  and  the  disreputables  gloat  over  it — 
and  what  is  done  about  it  I  Nothing.  They  are  rich 
and  the  rich  cannot  be  punished  for  crime.  The  offi- 
cers say  there  is  no  law  to  punish  them!  But  how 
quickly  would  a  law  be  found  to  punish  them  if  they 
were  poor !  If  there  were  no  law  they  would  be  pun- 
ished without  law.'' 

**  Indictments  have  been  returned  by  the  federal 
grand  jury  against  the  teamsters  in  Chicago  on 
charges  of  violating  *  police  morals'  and  *  trade 
morals.'  When  labor  undertakes  to  get  better  condi- 
tions for  itself  ^ it  is  a  conspiracy.'  When  a  man  like 
Bigelow  filches  a  couple  millions,  it  is  a  *  breach  of 
trust.'  Broken  heads  and  jail  sentences  for  the  work- 
ing class,  and  banquets  and  trips  to  Europe  for  the 
bankers  who  swindle  confiding  depositors." 

It  is  very  difficult  for  the  laboring  man  to  get  laws 
passed  in  his  favor.  Recently  the  Legislature  of  Colo- 
rado refused  to  enact  an  eight-hour-day  law  after  the 
people  had  sanctioned  and  demanded  it  by  ballot.  This 
was  the  voice  of  the  working  masses  and  it  was  not 
heeded  by  the  lawmaking  body.  When  corporations 
can  so  influence  a  State  Legislature,  is  it  not  true  that 
public  government  is  at  an  end,  and  revolution  is  at 
hand?    Nothing  is  so  much  the  cause  of  the  present 


106  THE    CAUSE    OF  LABOR 's   DISCONTENT. 

uneasiness  and  the  general  disrespect  for  law  as  this 
partiality  in  its  administration. 

**  Government  should  also  protect  the  poor  man^s 
property  against  the  rich  man's  fraud,  as  well  as  the 
rich  man's  property  against  the  poor  man's  stealing. 
There  are  selfish  and  lawless  men  in  each  class  that 
will  get  their  neighbor's  goods  without  an  equivalent 
if  they  can.  *  *  *  if  there  is  any  difference,  the 
rich  banker,  who  steals  the  wages  of  the  poor  com- 
mitted to  his  keeping,  is  a  worse  rogue  than  the  sneak 
thief  who  steals  the  banker's  overcoat,  yet  the  last 
is  stealing  and  the  first  is  embezzlement,  and  if  the 
embezzlement  is  managed  with  considerable  skill,  the 
criminal  may  still  be  in  good  society.  Such  false  dis- 
tinction should  be  done  away  with  and  all  the  thieves 
whether  rich  or  poor  be  upon  an  equality." 

Another  source  of  uneasiness  is  the  manner  in  which 
honest  people  are  fleeced  out  of  their  money  by  mis- 
representations and  by  common  agreement  amongst 
captains  of  finance.  The  great  revelation  along  this 
line  by  Thomas  W.  Lawson  in  *  *  Everybody 's  Magazine ' ' 
will  not  be  forgotten  by  the  American  people  for  a 
long  time  to  come.  Let  us  quote  one  of  his  general 
comments  on  the  Wall  Street  Speculations : — 

'*The  truth  is  that  in  high  finance  all  civilized 
amenities  have  long  been  suspended.  The  black  flag 
is  to-day  the  Wall  Street  standard.  Thuggery  and 
assassination  are  so  much  the  rule  that  nowadays  all 
parties  to  a  business  transaction  wear  armor  and 
carry  stilettos.  Property  rights  are  vested  in  Power; 
the  sole  license  to  have,  is  strength  to  hold;  to  covet 
another  man's  railway  or  factory  is,  if  you  be  the 
stronger,  full  warrant  and  charter  to  its  possession. 


THE   CAUSE    OF   LABOR 'S   DISCONTENT.  107 

In  the  pursuit  of  *made  dollars*  greed  and  cunning 
lead  the  pack ;  kindliness,  fair  dealing,  and  truth  have 
lost  the  scent.  To-day  the  penal  code  is  Wall  Street's 
bible;  its  priest,  the  corporation  lawyer;  conscience  is 
a  fear  of  legal  consequences;  the  sole  crime,  being 
caught;  talent  and  character  are  best  proved  by  a 
large  bank  account;  to  err  is  to  fail;  continued  suc- 
cess in  speculation  and  a  few  years'  immunity  from 
retributive  justice  constitute  a  reputation  for  virtue 
and  stability  that  finds  its  highest  justification  as  a 
handy  asset  behind  a  bond  issue. 

**It  is  the  deplorable  fact  that  in  carrying  through 
the  great  deals  that  have  marked  the  last  few  years, 
it  has  become  a  habit  for  men  to  lie,  cheat,  bribe,  and 
commit  perjury,  and  there  is  no  more  condemnation 
of  such  practices  among  those  who  are  to-day  the  rep- 
resentatives of  finance  in  America  than  there  was  in 
earlier  times  for  the  close-fisted  driver  of  a  hard  but 
honest  bargain." 

Should  anyone  consider  that  this  **word  picture" 
of  Wall  Street  is  overdrawn,  he  has  the  privilege  of 
investigating  for  himself,  providing  he  has  the  nec- 
essary time  and  ability  to  do  so.  We  feel  safe  in 
saying  that  any  competent  investigator  will  have  his 
eyes  more  than  opened  after  he  has  thoroughly  com- 
pleted his  work  as  a  detective.  It  required  such  a 
man  like  Lawson,  who  lived  on  both  sides  of  the  Wall 
Street  fence,  to  give  a  full  word  picture  of  the  black 
crimes  committed  in  the  dark  in  the  name  of  decency, 
and  even  Christianity.  These  stealthy  criminals  es- 
cape the  penalty  of  the  law  by  secrecy,  bluff,  arro- 
gance and  bribery.  The  middle  class  and  lower  class 
of  people  are  fleeced  out  of  their  money  by  all  kinds 


108  THE  CAUSE  OF  LABOB's  DISCONTENT. 

of  promising  schemes,  and,  whenever  the  guilt  has 
been  properly  placed,  the  offender  is  punished  very 
lightly  if  punished  at  all,  and  the  sufferer  has  no  way 
to  regain  his  lost  money. 

The  day  is  not  far  distant  when  the  large  army  of 
speculators  will  be  called  upon  to  do  their  share  of 
honest  work.  It  will  then  be  seen  how  much  of  the 
Wall  Street  machinery  is  really  necessary  to  the 
successful  maintenance  of  our  government. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


Discsf/reNT 


(finriNUto 


D. 


ARISING  FROM  THE  EVILS  OF  COMPETITION. 

One  more  cause  of  discontent  among  laborers  is 
competition.  We  have  been  born  and  bred  under  the 
reign  of  our  present  industrial  order,  and  it  has  been 
natural  for  us  to  believe  that  the  things  that  are,  are 
the  things  that  ought  to  be;  and  he  who  doubts  this 
is  regarded  by  many  as  a  pessimist,  or  as  an  imprac- 
tical, dreamy  reformer. 

I.— OEIGIN  OF  COMPETITION. 

Before  competition  became  the  ruling  power  of  busi- 
ness, prices  were  regulated  by  custom  or  law  under 
what  is  commonly  known  as  the  ** Guild  System.'* 
With  the  advent  of  machinery  and  the  factory,  new 
conditions  arose  which  compelled  the  factory  to  under- 
sell, so  as  to  dispose  of  its  larger  output.  This  was 
the  opening  wedge  of  the  competitive  system,  and  it 
gave  a  new  hum  and  bustle  to  business,  and  society 

109 


110  THE  CAUSE  OF  LABOR 's  DISCONTENT. 

waited  in  expectancy  to  see  what  yet  might  come  of 
this  new  order. 

All  this  happened  in  England  a  little  after  the  Eight- 
eenth Century;  and  the  champion  of  the  new  princi- 
ple was  Adam  Smith,  whose  great  work  entitled  *  ^  The 
Wealth  of  Nations'^  was  an  epoch-maker.  He  argued 
that  industry  would  take  care  of  itself  under  free  com- 
petition, and  that  both  employer  and  employed  would 
be  duly  protected  by  the  correct  poise  of  the  ever 
natural  balance.  He  held  strictly  to  the  doctrine  laissez 
faire,  which  means  *4et  alone,  *^  the  world  evolves  of 
itself.  The  idea  was  that  there  should  be  no  inter- 
ference by  the  state  with  industrial  competition.  Mr. 
Smith  argued  at  length  that  competition  among  la- 
borers would  prevent  wages  from  going  too  high,  and 
also  competition  among  employers  would  keep  wages 
from  going  too  low ;  in  other  words,  there  would  be  a 
constant  and  just  equilibrium  preserved.  We  have 
no  space  in  this  single  volume  to  give  a  larger  view 
of  Adam  Smith's  book.  Any  one  who  is  interested 
can  read  it.  Its  teaching,  coupled  with  the  conditions 
previously  mentioned,  ushered  in  the  new  era  of  com- 
petition. 

II.— CLAIMS  FOE  COMPETITION. 

Adam  Smith  claimed  that  free  competition  wouW 
increase  the  production  of  wealth.  His  prophecy 
along  this  line  has  been  fulfilled,  only  that  wealth  has 
come  to  one  class  and  poverty  to  another.  It  was  also 
claimed  that  competition  would  be  the  mother  of  in- 
vention. This  claim  has  also  been  fully  realized,  and 
perhaps,  there  has  been  no  greater  blessing  from  com- 
petition than  the  stimulus  it  has  given  to  individual 


THE   CAUSE    OF   LABOR  ^S   DISCONTENT.  Ill 

ejffort.  There  should  be  no  system  of  economics  that 
would  put  brakes  on  the  wheels  of  human  progress; 
and  no  matter  what  kmd  of  economic  administration 
may  exist,  there  should  always  be  an  incentive  to 
study,  invent,  and  discover,  so  that  the  human  family 
will  reach  the  most  glorious  goal  possible  in  every 
realm  of  thought  and  endeavor.  It  was  also  claimed 
that  competition  would  protect  and  elevate  the  la- 
borer. This  prophecy  has  not  been  fulfilled.  This 
leads  us  to  a  necessarily  brief  consideration  of 

III.— EVIL  EFFECTS  OF  COMPETITION. 

1. — It  Made  Possible  the  So-Called  White  Slavery, 

This  is  one  of  the  most  cruel  phases  of  competition. 
The  employers,  wherever  they  saw  an  opportunity  of 
using  children,  put  them  into  the  factory  in  order  to 
save  in  the  cost  of  production.  The  laws  of  health 
were  little  taken  into  consideration.  In  the  beginning 
of  the  cruel  system  of  competition,  certain  children 
were  required  to  work  twelve  hours  per  day,  and  as 
they  went  to  their  beds,  another  lot  went  to  the  fac- 
tory, and  the  greed  of  the  operators  was  only  satisfied 
when  the  factory  wheels  were  humming  day  and  night. 
The  beds  of  the  children  never  became  cold.  **One 
batch  of  children  rested  while  another  went  to  the 
looms,  only  half  the  requisite  number  of  beds  being 
provided  for  all.  Epidemic  fevers  were  rife  in  con- 
sequence. Medical  inspectors  reported  the  rapid  spread 
of  malformation  of  the  bones,  curvature  of  the  spine, 
heart  disease,  rupture,  stunted  growth,  asthma  and 
premature  old  age  among  children  and  yoimg  per- 


112  THE  CAUSE  OF  LABOE's  DISCONTENT. 

sons;  the  said  children  and  young  persons,  being 
worked  by  manufacturers  without  any  kind  of  re- 
straint.'* 

This  is  a  partial  glimpse  of  the  early  reign  of  com- 
petition before  public  indignation  was  aroused.  When 
better  conditions  came,  it  was  not  because  the  em- 
ployers became  more  benevolent  and  kind,  but  because 
the  general  cry  of  the  people  demanded  reform. 

We  have  had  in  our  own  country  some  deplorable 
conditions  of  white  slavery,  and  all  of  this  has  proved 
that  competition  left  to  itself  manifests  a  heartless, 
soulless  and  barbarous  spirit.  We  will  have  more  to 
say  concerning  the  slavish  effects  of  competition  in 
another  part  of  this  book. 

2. — Competition  Has  Slain  Its  Tens  of  Thousands. 

Not  only  the  lives  of  children  have  been  taken  by 
the  terrible  strain  brought  upon  their  tender  bodies 
through  overwork,  but  hosts  of  adult  workmen  came 
to  an  untimely  end  by  the  lack  of  protection  that 
should  have  been  afforded  to  every  workman.  It  is 
true  that  many  laborers  lose  their  lives  through  their 
own  carelessness,  but  the  more  terrible  fact  remains 
that  thousands  go  down  every  year  just  because  the 
employing  class  give  too  little  attention  to  the  safety 
and  welfare  of  their  employees.  This  comes  from 
such  causes  as  unprotected  machinery,  unsanitary 
work-shops  and  other  forms  of  carelessness  and  in- 
difference on  the  part  of  the  employing  class.  Under 
a  true  economic  system  there  would  be  just  as  much 
effort  made  to  protect  the  worker  and  to  make  his 
surroundings  sanitary,  pleasant  and  safe,  as  there 


THE  CAUSE  OP  LABOR 's  DISCONTENT.  113 

would  be  to  get  the  product  of  his  labor.  There  would 
be  no  motive  to  have  it  otherwise,  and  if  any  should 
appear,  the  workers  themselves  could  easily  correct 
the  evil,  because  they  would  in  a  large  measure  control 
the  industry. 

3. — Competition  is  Indifferent  to  the  Welfare  of 

THE  Weak. 

These  are  the  ones  who  are  left  to  perish  in  the 
struggle  of  life.  They  go  down  amidst  groanings  un- 
utterable, being  unfit  to  meet  the  conditions  imposed 
upon  them  by  competition.  This  is  one  of  the  darkest 
pictures  of  human  society  and  is  treated  elsewhere 
in  this  book. 

4. — Competition  Produces  an  Evil  Effect  Upon  thb 

Employer. 

Under  the  spur  of  competition  the  employer  is 
tempted  to  treat  his  employees  as  a  commodity  sub- 
ject to  the  law  of  supply  and  demand,  and  to  forget 
that  his  hirelings  are  human  beings  endowed  with  su- 
perior faculties  and  destined  to  an  immortal  existence. 
This  continual  forgetting  hardens  the  soul  of  the  em- 
ployer, and  robs  him  largely  of  human  sjnnpathy.  He  is 
consequently  a  heartless  machine,  grinding  out  the  very 
lives  of  his  employees  into  gold  dollars  for  his  vaults. 
This  is  one  of  the  most  heartless  phases  of  competi- 
tion, and  the  helpless  worker  suffers  the  bitterest  end 
of  the  injustice.  There  are  times  when  the  employer 
suffers  heavily,  when  he,  in  turn,  is  also  being  crushed 
by  some  power  greater  than  himself;  he  then  gets  a 
taste  of  the  sorrows  that  must  be  borne  by  his  own 
employees  altogether  too  often. 


lU 


the  cause  of  labor 's  discontent.  115 

5. — Competition  Compels  a  Labober  to  Bid  Against 
Another  for  Work. 

This  is  the  most  pitiful  struggle  of  all  the  conflicts 
in  the  world;  to  find  one  class  of  helpless  men  under- 
bidding another  class  in  order  to  get  bread  to  eat. 
These  pictures  are  not  so  plentiful  in  times  of  so- 
called  prosperity,  but  in  times  of  panic  it  is  terrible 
and  heart-rending.  This  cruel  state  of  affairs  must 
come  to  an  end,  and  the  worker  must  be  the  prime 
mover  in  order  to  reach  the  desired  end. 

6. — Competition  Has  Enriched  the  Employing  Class 
AND  Degraded  the  Laboring  Class. 

This  phase  of  the  question  is  considered  in  another 
part  of  the  book. 

7. — Competition   Compels   an   Enormous  Waste   of 
Capital  and  Energy. 

This  is  one  more  of  the  business  considerations  of 
this  question.  It  is  costing  the  general  public  much 
more  to  maintain  the  different  competitive  systems 
than  it  would  under  co-operative  ownership  and  man- 
agement, where  public  good  instead  of  private  gain  is 
the  controlling  spirit.  For  example,  here  is  a  city, 
and  its  gas  company  has  just  been  in  business  long 
enough  to  get  **on  its  feet.*'  About  that  time  another 
gas  company  commences  operation,  and  the  streets 
of  the  city  are  dug  up  again  to  lay  pipes  along  the 
same  streets  where  the  other  company  had  already 
laid  pipes.  This  new  company  offers  special  induce- 
ments, and  the  people  are  rejoicing  over  the  fact  that 


116  THE  CAUSE  OF  LABOR  *S  DISCONTENT. 

competition  in  gas  has  come  so  that  prices  will  be 
kept  down.  This  is  one  example  that  will  serve  to 
cover  all  the  others.  The  people  do  not  stop  to  think 
how  much  better  it  would  be  if  the  city  or  borough 
owned  its  own  gas  plant  and  operated  it  for  the  bene- 
fit of  everybody.  This  is  no  dream.  It  has  been  prac- 
tically proved  that  the  people  get  better  service  and 
cheaper  gas  than  can  be  furnished  under  any  competi- 
tive system.  It  is  a  rule  well  established  that  people 
must  pay  for  everything  that  is  needlessly  duplicated 
under  competition.  For  a  larger  consideration  of 
this  subject  read  chapter  entitled  **  Blessings  Under 
Social  Eeform.'' 

The  laboring  people  are  having  their  eyes  opened, 
and  for  many  years  they  have  been  studying  and  ob- 
serving this  peculiar  system  of  competition,  and,  while 
they  have  been  hearing  on  every  hand  that  *^  competi- 
tion is  the  life  of  trade, '*  they  are  being  more  and 
more  convinced  that  competition  is  the  death  of  indus- 
try, and  also  their  own  death.  As  soon  as  some  better 
system  can  be  shown  to  be  practical,  it  will  not  be  long 
until  the  great  change  will  be  wrought,  and  from  the 
present  discontent  and  turmoil,  there  will  be  ushered 
in  a  period  of  human  blessing  heretofore  unknown. 

Competition  was,  and  still  is  a  hard  schoolmaster 
to  teach  the  people  the  curses  of  private  ownership. 
These  things  must  needs  be  in  order  for  full  enlight- 
enment; but  after  the  discipline  of  school  days,  shall 
come  the  period  when  knowledge  will  be  used;  and, 
when  the  proletarian  or  common  worker  gets  down 
to  hard  thinking,  nothing  can  stop  him  in  his  effort 
for  larger  liberty  and  a  happier  life 


The  Idol  of  Monopoly. — The  workers  of  America  have  made  unto 
themselves  an  idol  called  Monopoly,  which  many  of  them  still  admire  and 
worship.     Oh  workers  !     This  is  not  your  god. 


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CHAPTER  X. 


COMt 


E. 


CONCtUOCO 


ARISING  FROM  TRUSTS  AND  MONOPOLIES. 

There  is  nothing  in  the  line  of  human  events  that 
has  sharpened  the  struggle  between  Capital  and  Labor 
more  than  the  rise  of  Trusts  and  Monopolies  in  our 
country  for  the  purpose  of  gratifying  individual 
greed.  This  new  and  ominous  cloud  has  terribly 
threatened  our  entire  industrial,  social  and  political 
life.  A  combination  of  business  interests  ought  to 
be  a  blessing  to  humanity,  and  would  be  so,  if  the  pro- 
moters kept  in  view  the  welfare  of  the  masses;  but 
under  a  system  of  private  gain  or  self-appropriation 
at  any  cost,  it  proves  to  be  a  curse 

119 


120  THE  CAUSE  OF  LABOR 's  DISCONTENT. 

I.— BENEFITS  OF  MONOPOLY. 

The  great  promoters  of  Monopoly  in  our  country 
have  unconsciously  and  unwittingly  taught  the  peo- 
ple the  possible  blessings  that  would  flow  to  them  if 
the  Government,  instead  of  a  limited  number  of  peo- 
ple, owned  and  controlled  the  industries.  Under  gov- 
ernment ownership,  all  the  people  would  reap  the 
benefit  of  a  most  perfect  monopoly.  The  laborer  and 
the  capitalist  would  then  be  more  nearly  on  one  com- 
mon level,  neither  one  being  compelled  to  grind  out 
his  life  to  enrich  the  other.  We  mention  a  few  ad- 
vantages resulting  from  the  formation  of  Trusts  and 
Monopolies. 

1.  The  expense  of  securing  and  manufacturing  the 
raw  material  is  lessened. 

2.  The  distribution  of  goods  is  effected  with  much 
less  expenditure  of  work  and  money. 

3.  Our  markets  abroad  are  more  thoroughly  and 
systematically  developed. 

4.  All  surplus  products  are  utilized  to  greater  ad- 
vantages. 

Under  our  present  system  all  these  benefits  flow 
into  the  purse  of  the  magnates  or  the  monopolists,  and 
the  people  do  not  get  any  more  benefit  than  can  be 
avoided.  It  is  due  to  this  fact  that  public  sentiment 
has  been  keenly  aroused,  and  the  public  eye  can  look 
clear  through  the  great  and  hideous  monster 
Monopoly  as  he  is  greedily  and  rapaciously  swallow- 
ing the  whole  country. 


THE  CAUSE  OF  LABOR 's  DISCONTENT.  121 

n.—EVILS  OF  MONOPOLY. 

We  have  seven  charges  against  Monopoly  as  now 
operated  for  private  gain. 

1. — It  Forces  the  Small  Competitors  to  Surrender 
TO  Its  Terms  or  Die. 

From  no  prison  pen  could  there  arise  a  more  bitter 
cry  than  has  come  up  from  the  thousands  of  small 
dealers  who  have  been  crushed  by  the  merciless  com- 
petition caused  by  Monopoly.  This  process  has  been 
called  cut-throat  competition,  and  it  reveals  a  fiendish 
state  of  affairs.  The  American  Ice  Company,  accord- 
ing to  **  Collier, '^  *^sold  its  ice  in  most  localities  for 
thirty  cents  a  hundred,  and  in  another  locality  where 
competition  existed,  it  reduced  the  price  to  ten  cents 
a  hundred  so  as  to  crush  out  its  competitors.*'  This 
kind  of  cruel  slaughtering  has  been  practiced  on  the 
weaker  through  all  the  reigns  of  Monopoly.  The 
Standard  Oil  Company  has  ruthlessly  walked  over 
the  small  dealers  who  happened  to  be  in  its  way;  re- 
cently it  threatened  the  army  of  producers  in  the 
Kansas  oil  fields,  just  because  they  could  not  at  first 
be  whipped  into  abject  surrender.  Others  have  given 
almost  numberless  instances  of  cut-throat  competition 
as  practiced  by  the  powerful  Standard  Oil,  and  by  the 
hosts  of  other  Trusts  and  Monopolies  that  are  making 
the  very  heavens  black  with  the  ominous  approach. 
The  ruling  spirit  of  Monopoly  is  purely  mercenary, 
and  it  seems  to  have  no  more  pity  for  the  small 
dealers  than  a  cat  has  for  a  mouse  as  it  pounces 
upon  itr 


122  THE  CAUSE  OF  LABOB's  DISCONTENT. 

A  few  years  ago,  Mr.  H.  0.  Havemeyer,  President 
of  the  American  Sugar  Eefining  Company,  or,  in 
other  words,  the  Sugar  Trust,  concluded  his  testi- 
mony before  the  Industrial  Commission  in  connec- 
tion with  its  investigation  of  trusts  by  saying,  **I  do 
not  care  two  cents  for  your  ethics.  I  am  talking  about 
business.  Business  is  not  philanthropy,  the  fate  of 
rival  concerns  is  their  affair,  not  ours." 

2. — ^It  Eobs  the  Pubuo. 

This  is  one  more  phase  of  the  curse  of  private  own- 
ership. There  are  certain  Monopolies  which  will  go 
to  any  extreme  to  get  control  of  a  certain  line  of  neces- 
sities, and  then  fix  their  own  price  for  them.  This 
is  regarded  by  many  as  a  shrewd  business  transaction, 
but  in  reality  it  is  cornering  the  market,  and,  as  we 
said  in  a  former  chapter,  it  is  a  species  of  highway 
robbery  which  will  be  just  as  unlawful  some  day  as 
for  a  man  to  steal  a  coat  or  a  chicken. 

When  Monopoly  was  still  a  child  in  this  country,  it 
showed  its  real  spirit.  As  far  back  as  1887,  a  New 
York  Syndicate  bought  up  the  stock  of  three  of  the  gas 
companies,  and  organized  a  **Gas  Trust.''  Gas  went 
up  twenty-five  cents  per  1,000  feet.  In  1887-8,  the  Coal 
Trust  refused  to  put  down  the  price  of  coal  to  the 
poor  settlers  in  Dakota,  Montana  and  other  states.  As 
a  consequence,  many  of  the  people  froze  to  death.  In 
1896,  according  to  a  good  authority,  there  were  eleven 
leading  coal  companies  that  controlled  the  output  of 
nearly  fifty  million  tons  of  coal.  To  use  a  common 
phrase,  they  **got  their  heads  together"  and  worked  in 
harmony.    They  claimed  that  tbQ  coal  business  was 


THE  CAUSE  OF  LABOR 'S  DISCONTENT.  123 

done  at  a  loss,  so  coal  went  up  thirty-five  cents  a  ton. 
Look  at  the  Meat  Trust,  the  Eubber  Trust,  and  hun- 
dreds of  others  ostensibly  formed  for  the  purpose  of 
cheapening  the  output,  though  in  reality,  prices  after- 
wards advanced.  This  is  what  we  should  expect  when 
the  Trusts  have  thir  own  way.  This  rule  holds  good: 
if  the  present  order  of  private  ownership  is  to  con- 
tinue, then  competition  should  have  the  widest  scope. 
Under  a  system  of  public  ownership  there  would  he 
no  need  of  this  heartless  competition  and  robbery. 

Some  Trusts  start  in  with  a  glorious  motto.  They 
pretend  that  they  are  combining  business  interests  for 
the  benefit  of  the  public,  and  to  make  good  their  pre- 
tense they  actually  give  lower  prices  for  a  season. 
Finally,  the  true  nature  of  the  serpent  manifests  itself 
and  greed  is  written  over  all. 

3. — It  Takes  Advantage  of  the  Workers. 

One  of  the  lowest  forms  of  business  dealing  is  wit- 
nessed when  a  corporation  wilfully  restricts  the  output 
of  a  certain  article  in  order  to  raise  the  price.  This 
not  only  means  that  the  public  is  fleeced,  but  that  the 
wage-earners  are  kept  idle  part  of  the  time  and  there- 
fore the  suffering  is  felt  by  both  the  workers  and  the 
consumers. 

It  is  also  a  custom  of  Trusts  to  order  a  certain 
amount  of  a  product  from  one  part  of  its  works,  and 
then,  after  times  have  been  good  at  that  place  for 
a  while,  they  shift  the  work  at  another  season  to  an- 
other part  of  the  works  they  control,  and  the  men  at 
the  former  place  are  put  on  half  time  or  are  kept  idle 
for  a  while.  This  manner  of  dealing  with  workmen 
8 


124  THE   CAUSE   OP   LABOR 's   DISCONTENT. 

proves  in  what  small  regard  the  welfare  of  the  worker 
is  held.  There  are  exceptions  to  the  above  practice 
where  corporations  really  have  more  factories  than 
they  can  keep  busy  all  the  time,  so  they  distribute  the 
work.  The  conditions  that  make  this  necessary  is  one 
of  the  strongest  arguments  against  the  whole  system 
of  Monopoly  for  private  gain. 

We  learn  from  a  minister,  of  a  certain  firm  that  had 
an  investment  of  five  million  dollars,  that  the  business 
was  so  profitably  conducted  that  it  paid  handsome 
dividends  on  twenty-five  millions  of  stock.  To  do  this, 
it  worked  many  of  its  men  seven  days  in  the  week, 
amidst  crowded  machinery,  where  the  danger  to  life 
was  so  great  that  leading  life  insurance  companies 
refused  to  take  them  as  risks.  Once  the  men  struck 
against  Sunday  work,  but  they  lost  their  point  and 
were  compelled  to  go  to  work  on  Sundays  again.  The 
stockholders  in  that  concern  are  becoming  million- 
aires, while  their  workingmen  who  are  not  ground  up 
among  their  mill  wheels,  keep  on  living  from  hand  to 
mouth,  and  when  worn  out,  will  be  turned  out  as 
paupers,  or  be  supported  by  children  who  work  in  the 
same  helpless,  hopeless  way. 

4. — Certain  Corporations  Eestrict  the  Dealer  to 
Their  Own  Products. 

The  *^ North  American''  of  December  12,  1904,  re- 
lates the  experience  of  Caroline  Pemberton,  which  we 
here  reproduce: 

''Not  long  ago,  I  asked  in  a  department  store  for  a 
certain  article  which  I  knew  to  be  of  superior  quality 
and  low  in  price.    The  clerk  told  me  promptly  that  the 


THE    CAUSE   OF   LABOR  *S   DISCONTENT.  125 

store  did  not  sell  the  article  because  it  was  made  by 
an  Anti-Trust  firm.  I  went  to  another  large  store, 
made  the  same  inquiry  and  received  the  same  reply. 
I  tried  other  stores,  with  the  same  result.  They  of- 
fered me  goods  of  inferior  quality  and  higher  in  price 
— goods  that  were  made  by  the  Trusts — but  they  did 
not  keep  the  article  I  asked  for  because  it  was  Anti- 
Trust.'^ 

<<  <Why  can't  you  keep  both  Trust  and  Anti-Trust 
goods r  I  asked.'' 

a  <The  Trust  won't  let  us'  was  the  astonishing 
reply. ' ' 

**  *How  can  the  Trust  people  prevent  your  keeping 
what  you  know  your  customers  buy?'  I  asked." 

**  *They  won't  let  us  have  their  goods  to  sell  if  we 
keep  Anti-Trust  goods — and  that  would  ruin  our  busi- 
ness.' " 

This  may  not  seem  like  a  very  serious  matter,  but 
upon  reflection,  one  will  observe  that  it  is  a  great  evil 
to  the  public  to  shut  off  meritorious  goods,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  boycott  placed  upon  the  retailer. 

5. — Monopoly  Eobs  the  Small  Producer. 

It  depresses  the  price  of  raw  materials,  and  the 
marketable  goods  raised  or  grown  by  the  farmers. 
Under  our  peculiar  age  of  Monopoly  rule  the  middle- 
man who  buys  the  wheat  is  robbed,  and  the  one  who 
raises  the  wheat  is  also  robbed.  The  advantage  is  taken 
at  both  ends  of  the  deal.  The  farmers  of  the  great  west 
are  becoming  more  and  more  subject  to  the  kings  of 
Monopoly,  who  are  rapidly  coming  into  possession  of 
all  the  means  of  transportation.    This  enables  Mon- 


126  THE   CAUSE   OF   LABOR 'S   DISCONTENT. 

opoly  to  buy  from  the  farmers,  not  at  the  farmer's 
price,  but  at  the  price  Monopoly  dictates.  Think  a 
moment  and  see  what  the  end  of  this  will  be. 


6. — Certain  Monopolies  Defy  the  Law. 

In  the  light  of  the  great  Supreme  Court  decision  of 
the  United  States  in  dissolving  the  Northwestern 
Securities  Merger  in  the  early  part  of  1904,  it  is  not 
necessary  to  give  any  further  proof  under  this  charge 
than  the  fact  that  great  lawyers  were  backed  by  great 
capitalists  to  defeat  the  purpose  and  intent  of  the  law. 
This  is  one  great  example. 

Another  famous  example  was  seen  in  the  attitude 
of  the  Coal  Monopoly  when  all  efforts  were  made  by 
the  public  to  have  the  differences  arbitrated.  The  cry 
of  the  Coal  Trust  still  rings  in  our  ears:  *' Arbitrate 
nothing  I  There  is  nothing  to  arbitrate  I''  Other  ex- 
amples of  the  evasion  of  the  law  are  legion. 

7. — Certain  Monopolists  Take  Advantage  of  Their 

Power  and  Bribe  Politicians,  Legislators 

AND  Congressmen. 

This  charge  is  not  wholesale,  for  we  could  not  prove 
that  all  corporations  are  guilty  of  such  crimes,  but 
we  could  furnish  an  interesting  budget  of  information 
to  prove  our  point  if  space  permitted,  or  if  it  were 
necessary. 

The  politicians  and  the  Trusts  may  play  with  the 
fire  for  a  time  without  being  burnt,  but  the  conflagra- 
tion will  lighten  the  sky  with  its  lurid  red  until  the 


THE    CAUSE   OP   LABOR 's   DISCONTENT.  127 

army  of  workingmen  will  see  the  signal  of  danger 
and  rise  to  rescue  the  nation.  There  is  a  limit  even  to 
the  patient  endurance  of  free  American  citizens. 


III.— TIDAL  WAVES  OF  PUBLIC  OPINION 
AGAINST  MONOPOLY. 

In  view  of  these  seven  charges  against  Monopoly,  is 
it  strange  that  the  public  should  rise  up  in  arms 
against  it?  There  have  been  three  great  tidal  waves 
of  public  sentiment  against  Monopoly  in  the  United 
States  since  the  year  1870,  and  peculiar  as  it  may 
seem,  the  Standard  Oil  Company  has  been  a  promi- 
nent figure  against  which  the  waves  have  dashed  each 
time.  In  1872,  the  small  oil  dealers  of  Pennsylvania 
broke  out  in  fury  when  they  learned  that  the  Standard 
Oil  Monopoly  had  induced  certain  railroads  to  dis- 
criminate against  them  in  regard  to  freight  rates.  The 
public  press  and  the  public  conscience  were  greatly 
aroused,  and  after  the  heat  of  the  battle  had  subsided, 
it  was  supposed  that  the  passage  of  the  Granger  laws 
would  hold  in  check  the  power  of  the  great  oil  com- 
pany. The  public  rested  in  this  confidence,  and  while 
they  slept,  the  octopus-like  arms  of  this  young  Stand- 
ard Oil  Company  were  quietly  reaching  over  the  whole 
industrial  life  of  the  country.  Many  an  individual  and 
many  a  small  company  went  down  to  ruin  before  the 
ever  slimy  crawl  of  this  monster  of  Monopoly. 

Again  the  public  mind  broke  bounds  in  1887,  and  as 
an  outgrowth  of  this  second  war  on  Monopoly,  the  In- 
terstate Commerce  Law  was  passed.  This  meant  that 
the  United  States  Government  would  have  jurisdic- 


128  THE    CAUSE   OF   LABOR 's   DISCONTENT. 

tion  over  all  business  relations  covering  territory  in 
two  or  more  states  of  the  Union.  It  was  very  shortly 
after  the  passage  of  this  law  that  the  great  oil  com- 
pany passed  under  the  hammer  of  a  cross-examina- 
tion, and  the  facts  that  were  evolved  from  this  pro- 
ceeding, astonished  an  awakened  public.  The  greed 
and  unlimited  power  of  the  Standard  Oil  Trust  were 
heralded  all  over  the  country,  and  silence  did  not  come 
as  quickly  as  the  monopolists  had  expected.  Sentiment 
became  so  fixed  throughout  the  nation  that  the  famous 
Sherman  Anti-Trust  Law  was  passed  in  1890.  This 
law  was  based  upon  the  provision  of  the  Constitution 
which  gives  Congress  power  to  regulate  trade  or  com- 
merce among  the  states  and  with  foreign  nations.  The 
purpose  of  this  law  was  clear  enough,  but  the  serpent 
of  Monopoly  is  more  slippery  than  an  eel,  and  it  usu- 
ally manages,  by  one  twist  or  another,  to  escape  the 
grasp  of  the  law.  This  smartness  will  not  be  endured 
forever,  for  justice  will  sicken  the  great  monster  and 
he  will  be  glad  to  throw  up  the  country  to  daylight, 
and  he  himself  will  roll  back  to  the  depths  and  die. 

From  the  year  1890  on,  the  press  and  the  public 
never  went  back  to  utter  indifference  again  regarding 
the  Trusts  of  the  country.  There  has  been  more  or 
less  agitation  ever  since.  Following  the  action  of  the 
United  States  Senate,  comes  the  action  of  separate 
states  against  Trusts.  There  is  a  deep  meaning  in  the 
widespread  antagonism  to  Monopoly  as  seen  by  the 
Anti-Trust  laws  passed  in  so  short  a  time  over  so  wide 
a  territory. 

In  the  year  1897,  New  York  passed  a  law  to  prevent 
Monopolies;  and  Illinois,  an  act  prohibiting  Pools, 
Trusts  and  Combines.     Also  Kansas,  Arkansas,  In- 


THE    CAUSE   OF    LABOR  *S   DISCONTENT.  129 

diana  and  Missouri  each  passed  an  Anti-Trust  act.  In 
the  same  year  Florida  passed  an  act  relating  to  Trusts 
and  Monopolies  for  the  control  of  trade  in  cattle.  Also 
in  this  same  year  the  states  of  Wisconsin,  South  Caro- 
lina, North  Carolina,  and  other  states  passed  similar 
acts  to  prohibit  Trusts  and  Combinations  in  trade. 
Some  of  these  states  enacted  their  laws  prior  to  or 
shortly  after  the  year  1897.  Thus  the  whole  country 
has  been  sounding  its  Anti-Monopoly  bugle  until  the 
kings  of  greed  are  trembling  on  their  thrones. 

What  called  forth  all  this  legislation?  It  was  the 
ever  rapidly  growing  movements  toward  centraliza- 
tion of  Capital.  There  were  not  only  many  corpora- 
tions, but  the  great  corporations  were  consolidating 
and  combining.  In  some  instances  hundreds  of  mil- 
lions of  dollars  of  capital  were  brought  together  under 
one  large  management,  and  tens  of  thousands  of  men 
became  subject  to  that  same  management,  and  it  fre- 
quently occurred  that  these  vast  corporations  were  in 
the  grip  of  one  or  two  persons  at  whose  simple  com- 
mand wonderful  changes  might  occur.  The  phrase, 
*Hhe  billion-dollar  trust,*'  was  common  among  the 
people.  It  was  learned  that  one  of  the  large  corpora- 
tions cleared  in  net  profits  in  one  year  $40,000,000. 
Such  facts  as  these  stirred  up  the  whole  mass  of  the 
common  people,  and  quickened  the  thought  of  the  age, 
and -restlessness  became  everywhere  more  prevalent. 
The  great  majority  of  people  thought  that  it  was  an 
unsafe  and  unjust  condition  of  affairs  to  have  so  much 
power  wrapped  up  in  the  hands  of  such  a  few  private 
citizens. 

As  the  last  light  of  the  Nineteenth  Century  was  dying 
we  found  that  there  were  over  one-hundred  corpora- 


130  THE   CAUSE   OF   LABOR 's  DISCONTENT. 

tions  each  of  which  had  a  capitalization  of  $10,000,000 
or  over.  All  these  vast  business  combinations  were 
effected  so  suddenly  that  the  public  mind  was  not  pre- 
pared for  it.  To  put  the  whole  statement  in  a  nut- 
shell, we  might  say  that  the  Twentieth  Century  opened 
with  about  five  hundred  large  Trusts  and  Monopolies 
in  the  United  States  with  a  capitalization  of  over 
$8,000,000,000;  and,  aside  from  these,  there  were  about 
five  hundred  Pools  and  Monopolies  which  were  not  in- 
corporated. A  list  of  all  these  great  combinations  can 
be  found  in  the  Annual  Eeports  of  the  Commercial 
Journals. 

The  next  and  greatest  tidal  wave  against  Monopoly 
swept  over  the  country  in  1905.  Warm  conflicts  were 
experienced  before  this  year  was  half  over,  but  the 
struggle  continued  with  increasing  earnestness  and 
success  by  the  masses.  An  aroused  public  sentiment 
is  expressing  itself  in  independent  and  fusion  tenden- 
cies in  political  action,  and  already  large  corporations 
are  making  concessions.  The  details  of  this  public 
uprising  would  require  an  entire  volume  for  its  full 
discussion.  The  public  mind  will  not  soon  forget  the 
exposures  of  Thomas  Lawson  in  ** Everybody's  Maga- 
zine,'^  and  the  bringing  to  light  of  the  dark  schemes 
of  great  insurance  companies,  and  the  revealing  of 
discriminating  rates  by  railroad  companies,  and  a  host 
of  other  incidents  that  passed  in  quick  succession. 

It  is  not  strange  that  crookedness  in  dealing  on  such 
a  gigantic  scale  should  terrify  the  hearts  of  the  people 
and  make  them  suspicious  that  unknown  evils  might 
follow  to  the  poor  and  helpless  workers.  This  natur- 
ally explains  why  the  legislative  bodies  commenced  to 
pass  laws  that  would  prevent  any  one  man  or  cor- 


THE   CAUSE   OP   LABOR  *S  DISCONTENT.  131 

poration  from  becoming  the  sole  owner  of  a  state ;  for 
indeed,  the  way  events  had  been  occurring,  it  would 
not  be  difficult  for  a  few  corporations,  by  uniting,  to 
gain  virtual  control  of  all  the  great  business  interests 
in  one  state,  and  this  same  process  might  be  continued 
until  the  nation  was  owned  or  controlled  by  a  few 
great  magnates. 

During  the  stormy  times  of  the  past  in  regard  to  the 
trust  question,  there  have  been  many  able  minds  en- 
gaged in  discusing  the  best  remedies.  This  phase  of 
the  subject  has  been  carefully  considered  in  publica- 
tions and  addresses  since  1890,  and  even  now  the  so- 
lution seems  to  be  farther  away  than  years  ago.  We 
will  mention  a  few  of  the  remedies  that  have  been  sug- 
gested. 

IV.— HOW  TO  GUEE  THE  TRUST  EVIL. 

1. — The  Aoquieement  of  Mobe  Extensive  Fobeign 

Markets. 

This  idea  is  offered  by  Hon.  W.  M.  Collier.  We 
infer  that  this  theory  is  to  find  a  ready  and  sufficient 
market  for  all  of  the  products  of  our  American  indus- 
tries, so  that  the  great  corporations  can  keep  all  their 
works  going  all  the  time. 

Concerning  this  remedy,  we  have  this  to  say,  that  it 
savors  of  more  cruelty  to  the  American  worker  than 
is  at  first  thought  imagined.  The  principal  ones  who 
would  profit  by  a  sufficient  foreign  market  to  receive 
all  our  surplus  products,  would  be  the  Trusts.  It 
would  mean  that  while  labor  might  have  more  constant 
employment,  the  hardships  of  the  laborer  in  every 


132  THE    CAUSE   OF   LABOR 's   DISCONTENT. 

particular  would  be  increased  if  the  corporations 
could  so  compel  it.  By  reason  of  the  great  wealth  of 
our  country,  our  workingmen  would  be  more  and  more 
compelled  to  work  like  slaves  to  make  the  rich  richer 
and  to  help  feed  the  rest  of  the  world. 

2. — ^Abolition  of  All  Special  Privileges  Conferred 
BY  Legislative  Bodies  to  Trusts. 

This  is  the  idea  of  Hon.  Jerry  Simpson  who  was  the 
Populist  member  of  Congress  from  Kansas.  There  is 
no  doubt  that  Monopolies  have  received  many  favors 
which  have  enabled  them  to  increase  their  dividends, 
but  it  is  very  doubtful  if  many  of  the  evils  of  the  trust 
system  would  be  abolished  if  all  laws  were  neutral  to 
them.  At  least  we  are  free  to  express  an  opinion  that 
this  remedy  would  not  cure  the  Trust  evils. 

3. — Prevent  Over-Capitalization. 

This  idea  would  compel  all  corporations  to  issue 
stock  only  for  the  actual  value  of  their  property.  We 
will  spend  no  time  in  discussing  the  merits  or  demerits 
of  this  suggestion.  We  believe  that  it  can  be  easily 
seen  by  careful  thinking  that  this  would  be  no  more 
effective  than  the  first  method  suggested.  It  certainly 
would  not  be  corrective  in  its  results. 

4. — Compel  ** Publicity"  of  All  Trust  Matters. 

This  is  offered  by  a  number  of  different  writers,  and 
has  been  dwelt  upon  more  as  a  corrective  measure 
than  many  other  remedies  that  have  been  proposed. 


THE    CAUSE   OF   LABOR 'S   DISCONTENT.  133 

President  Eoosevelt  urged  publicity  in  many  of  his 
great  speeches.  There  is  no  doubt  but  that  this  pro- 
posed remedy  would  be  a  step  in  the  right  direction 
under  our  present  system  of  economics.  In  fact, 
nearly  all  the  remedies  suggested  would  be  in  order, 
but  especially  compulsory  publicity.  This  would  help 
to  protect  the  investor,  and  would  tend  to  prevent  un- 
due prices  and  would  be  otherwise  corrective  in  many 
respects. 

5. — Regulation  of  Tbusts  by  Law. 

(a)  Laws  to  regulate  the  corporate  management. 

(b)  The  state  must  declare  criminal  any  combina^ 
tion  for  the  raising  of  prices. 

(c)  It  must  prevent  all  partiality  among  parallel 
and  contemporary  competitors. 

(d)  The  purposes  for  which  corporations  can  be 
formed  should  be  limited.  This  is  a  suggestion  of 
Prof.  H.  C.  Adams. 

(e)  The  amount  of  capitalization  should  be  limited. 
This  is  a  suggestion  given  seriously  by  some  minds, 

but  upon  careful  thought  it  can  be  seen  that  it  is  not 
worthy  of  much  consideration,  just  because  it  is  im- 
practicable. 

(/)  Pass  laws  to  limit  the  dividends  of  corpora- 
tions. 

This  appears  also  to  be  weak  and  impracticable. 

6. — ^KiLL  THE  Trusts. 

This  is  a  very  natural  suggestion  and  comes  largely 
from  the  great  ranks  of  the  common  people.    If  this 


134  THE    CAUSE   OF   LABOR 's   DISCONTENT. 

remedy  were  to  be  applied  fully,  it  would  mean  a  re- 
turn to  the  old  conditions  of  competition  between  small 
dealers.  This  seems  to  be  the  idea  in  view  by  the 
passing  of  so  many  anti-trust  laws ;  nearly  forty  states 
taking  part,  and  saying  by  their  actions,  *'The  Trusts 
must  be  stamped  out/'  The  most  thoughtful  of  our 
people  hesitate  in  accepting  this  as  the  best  remedy. 
They  seem  to  see  that  large  business  concerns  are 
necessary  for  the  large  country  in  which  we  are  living, 
and  it  is  viewed  as  a  backward  step  to  force  upon  the 
general  public  the  old  time  conditions. 

We  believe  that  present  conditions  have  taught  all 
the  people  that  there  are  some  advantages  in  a  general 
corporate  control  of  a  certain  line  of  industries,  and 
the  best  solution  of  the  problem  will  be  given  by  the 
man  who  can  suggest  a  plan  whereby  the  **  private 
gain"  idea  will  be  eliminated  from  the  Trusts  and  the 
public  reap  the  benefit.  This  brings  us  to  state  what 
we  believe  to  be  the  best  of  all  remedies. 

7. — Let  All  the  Trusts  and  Monopolies  be  Operated 
FOR  the  Benefit  of  the  Public. 

This  means  national  ownership  of  all  industries,  or 
as  many  of  them  as  the  people  wish  to  absorb  collec- 
tively. This  is  a  great  question,  and  we  will  not  take 
time  now  to  discuss  it  farther  here,  but  will  take  it  up 
more  fully  in  certain  other  chapters  of  this  book. 

The  foregoing  are  a  few  of  the  many  remedies  that 
have  been  offered  to  cure  the  Trust  evil.  Concerning 
the  last  remedy  mentioned,  there  has  been  much  oppo- 
sition expressed,  and  also  much  has  been  said  in  favor 
of  it.    It  is,  indeed,  a  burning  question  of  the  age  as 


THE  CAUSE  OF  LABOR  ^S  DISCONTENT.  135 

to  which  is  preferable,  the  public  or  private  ownership 
of  the  industries.  We  invite  you  to  wait  until  you 
have  read  all  the  chapters  of  this  book  before  you 
form  your  opinion  as  to  the  reasonableness  of  the  sev- 
enth remedy  above  given. 

That  the  Trusts  and  Monopolies  in  the  United  States 
have  caused  great  discontent  and  restlessness  among 
the  laboring  class  is  quite  apparent  to  the  careful  stu- 
dent of  the  times. 


CHAPTER  XI. 


We  have  referred  mainly  to  the  United  States  and 
partly  to  England  in  our  preceding  statements  con- 
cerning Trusts  and  Monopolies.  The  situation  as  it  is 
now  seen  in  the  United  States  is  only  a  modification 
of  similar  conditions  that  are  prevailing  in  other  parts 
of  the  globe.  It  is  both  interesting  and  profitable  to 
take  a  bird's-eye  view  of  the  Trusts,  Monopolies  and 
of  the  Labor  agitations  as  they  are  playing  their 
changing  dramas  on  the  great  stage  of  the  civilized 
world.  The  facts  that  we  shall  hereafter  present  in 
this  chapter  have  been  gathered  by  original  investi- 
gation, and  from  certain  reports  of  consuls  of  the 
United  States  who  sent  special  reports  in  answer  to 
instructions  from  the  department  of  state.  Let  us 
first  take  a  passing  glance  at 

136 


THE   WORLD-WIDE   STRUGGLE   AGAINST   MONOPOLY.    137 

AUSTEIA. 

The  city  of  Vienna  is  designated  as  the  birthplace  of 
the  Trusts  of  Central  Europe,  and  the  9th  of  May, 
1873,  is  mentioned  as  the  day  of  their  birth,  because 
from  that  time  on  their  increase  has  been  more  appar- 
ent. It  was  on  the  day  above  mentioned  that  the  first 
large  Trust  was  formed  in  Austria  as  a  consequence 
of  the  long,  competitive  struggles  among  the  Steel-rail 
rolling  works.  From  1843  to  1873  was  the  great  period 
of  railway  construction  during  which  a  number  of  new 
works  had  been  established,  but  when  1873  came  the 
demand  for  rails  dropped  to  about  one-half.  This  con- 
dition would  have  forced  a  number  of  single  factories 
into  idleness,  had  it  not  been  that  a  Combination 
was  formed  by  which  each  factory  received  its  per- 
centage of  work.  Such  a  Combination  was  beneficial 
both  to  the  worker  and  the  owner.  If  such  blessings 
could  follow  in  the  wake  of  all  trade  combinations  the 
whisper  of  suspicion  and  the  cry  of  danger  would  not 
be  heard. 

Since  1873  the  number  of  Austria's  trade  combina- 
tions has  steadily  increased  until  now  it  includes 
nearly  all  articles  of  manufacture,  but  the  idea  of  mu- 
tual benefit  to  both  Capital  and  Labor  has  gradually 
died  out,  and  the  far-reaching  struggle  of  competi- 
tion has  pushed  many  of  the  small  dealers  to  one  side 
where  they  lay  bruised  and  mangled  by  their  fall. 
The  survival  of  the  shrewdest  and  the  strongest  has 
placed  many  financial  kings  on  the  throne,  where  they 
rule  with  a  scepter  of  tyranny  and  greed.  To  counter- 
balance the  possible  evils  that  might  result  from  these 
business  Combinations,  Labor  Unions  sprang  up  all 


138   THE   WORLD-WIDE   STRUGGLE  AGAINST   MONOPOLY. 

over  the  country.  The  law-making  bodies  of  Austria 
also  met  the  situation  by  drafting  a  bill  concerning 
Trusts  and  Eings,  but  the  law  has  not  yet  become  ef- 
fective and  therefore  Austria  has  the  same  fight  on 
hand  as  the  United  States. 

The  world  will  watch  the  outcome  with  interest,  es- 
pecially since  wages  have  increased  with  the  increase 
in  the  price  of  goods,  only  that  the  increase  in  wages 
has  not  been  equal  to  the  increase  in  the  price  of  life's 
necessities.  There  have  also  been  more  strikes  than 
ever  before. 

Austria  has  taken  the  Labor  question  into  politics, 
and  its  socialistic  vote  is  not  far  from  one  million. 
There  have  been  for  some  years  past,  members  in  Par- 
liament who  have  been  asserting  themselves  in  a  very 
definite  way. 


SWITZEELAND. 

This  little  country  has  attracted  the  attention  of  all 
the  civilized  world  because  of  its  unique  policy  in  home 
government.  It  has  maintained  its  distinctive  quali- 
ties in  the  midst  of  difficulties.  Dr.  B.  F.  Kidder  said 
some  years  ago  in  the  * ^ Homiletical  Eeview'': — 

**The  Swiss  Eepublic's  prosperity  and  greatness 
rest,  first  of  all,  on  the  fundamental  idea  of  liberty. 
The  spirit  of  Tell  still  lives  among  his  native  moun- 
tains. The  critics  may  prove  that  he  was  a  myth ;  but 
it  makes  no  difference  to  the  Swiss.  To  them  he  is  a 
glorious  reality.  The  spirit  of  this  freedom  first  mani- 
fested itself  in  strong,  concerted  action  in  a  struggle 
closely  resembling  that  of  the  American  colonists. 


THE   WORLD-WIDE   STBUGGLE   AGAINST   MONOPOLY.    139 

**A  second  fundamental  idea,  lived  up  to  by  this 
country,  is  the  equality  of  man.  The  fourth  article  of 
the  Constitution  declares,  *all  Swiss  are  equal  before 
the  Law.'  A  striking  application  of  this  principle  is 
seen  in  the  fact  that  Switzerland  has  three  national 
languages, — German,  French  and  Italian — while  these 
three  races  dwell  side  by  side  on  terms  of  perfect 
equality.  No  one  of  them  can  be  said  to  be  more  pa- 
triotic than  the  others,  and  no  one  of  them  desires  to 
sever  the  bonds  of  confederation.  Switzerland,  fur- 
ther, has  no  useless  monarch,  no  haughty  nobility,  no 
idle  aristocracy;  all  officials  are  chosen  from  among 
the  people,  and  serve  at  moderate  salaries ;  no  man  is 
pensioned ;  there  is  no  standing  army,  yet  every  man  is 
a  soldier ;  the  democratic  spirit  dominates  everything ; 
the  people  are  sovereign ;  the  freedom  of  the  press,  of 
conscience,  and  of  belief,  are  guaranteed  by  the  Con- 
stitution. ' ' 

FEANCE.  — 

Of  all  the  great  nations  France  has  the  least  number 
of  Trusts,  because  to  organize  them  is  contrary  to  law. 
Years  ago  a  severe  punishment  was  meted  out  to  those 
who  made  themselves  masters  of  the  stocks,  and  who 
thereby  took  advantage  of  the  scarcity  they  had 
created  by  raising  the  prices.  As  early  as  the  time  of 
Charlemagne,  certain  laws  against  Monopolies  were 
rigidly  enforced ;  but  Sully  abolished  all  these  decrees, 
and  after  his  death  they  were  again  established  by 
Louis  XIII.  and  Louis  XIV.  As  far  back  as  1793,  it 
became  an  offense  punishable  by  death  for  any  man, 
or  number  of  men,  to  corner  necessary  commodities 
9 


140    THE    WOKLD-WIDE    STRUGGLE   AGAINST   MONOPOLY. 

and  hold  them  from  circulation,  thereby  causing  the 
people  to  suffer.  In  a  few  instances  the  death  penalty 
was  carried  into  effect.  This  severe  law  is  still  on  the 
statute  books  of  France.  In  modern  years  the  gov- 
ernment is  quite  indifferent  to  the  formation  of  Trusts, 
and,  consequently,  there  have  sprung  up  some  power- 
ful organizations.  The  combinations  have  been  ef- 
fected along  nearly  the  same  lines  as  we  find  in  our 
own  country.  The  sale  of  petroleum  is  in  the  hands  of 
a  powerful  organization.  The  pig-iron  industry  is  con- 
trolled by  a  joint  stock  company,  and  this  one  com- 
pany practically  controls  the  whole  iron  business  of 
France.  The  reason  that  these  and  many  other  com- 
binations are  allowed  to  work,  is  due  to  political  chi- 
canery. 

It  appears  that  the  agitation  against  the  evils  of 
Monopoly  is  not  popular  with  the  people.  This  battle 
is  left  to  a  few  socialistic  radicals  who  find  it  impossi- 
ble to  create  much  general  sentiment.  The  evils 
of  Trusts  in  France  have  not  been  so  manifest 
as  in  the  United  States,  and,  for  that  reason,  the  peo- 
ple are  more  indifferent  regarding  them.  The  main 
reason  why  the  people  are  more  contented,  is  because 
wages  have  increased  more  during  the  last  fifty  years 
than  the  cost  of  living.  Also,  in  many  localities,  the 
workingmen  are  given  a  share  of  the  profits  they  earn. 

Notwithstanding  the  apparent  indifference  in  France, 
it  is,  nevertheless,  believed  that  there  are  more  than 
800,000  adult  males  in  the  country  who  are  quietly  and 
openly  in  league  with  socialistic  ideas.  They  are  not 
banded  together  in  a  permanent  organization,  and, 
therefore,  the  development  of  the  new  thought  has  been 
irregular.     All  the  conditions  are  present  for  a  po- 


THE   WORLD-WIDE   STRUGGLE   AGAINST   MONOPOLY.   141 

litical  movement,  and,  when  once  the  proper  leader 
takes  the  cause  in  hand,  it  will  suddenly  spring  to  the 
front. 

GERMANY. 

The  organization  of  syndicates  in  Germany  began 
nearly  a  half  century  ago.  Since  then  they  have  stead- 
ily increased,  until  at  the  present  time  there  are  over 
four  hundred,  and  they  cover  practically  the  whole 
field  of  industrial  activity.  The  entire  question  of 
trade  combination  is  so  vast  and  complicated  in  this 
country,  and  it  has  been  discussed  so  fully,  that  the 
subject  has  a  literature  of  its  own.  If  all  these  discus- 
sions were  gathered  together  in  print  it  would  form  a 
small  library.  The  industries  of  Germany  are  more 
thoroughly  syndicated  than  in  any  other  country  of  the 
globe. 

Looking  at  the  Labor  side  of  the  question,  there  are 
many  unions  well  organized  and  just  as  active  in  their 
work  as  the  magnates  of  Capital  are  in  theirs.  The 
compositors  and  printers  are  thoroughly  organized, 
and  exercise  a  decisive  influence  in  book-publishing 
which  is  one  of  the  important  industries  of  Germany. 
The  Labor  Unions  are  not  operated  on  the  same  plan 
and  with  the  same  intensity  as  in  the  United  States, 
because  the  agitation  against  Trusts  is  mild  compared 
with  that  of  certain  other  countries.  The  reason  for 
this  is  due  to  three  facts : 

(1)  Those  at  the  head  of  the  Trusts  have  been  wise 
enough  to  exercise  their  privileges  without  causing 
the  people  to  suffer.  They  have  settled  values  in  cer- 
tain commodities  and,  therefore,  they  have  a  more 
settled  market. 


142   THE    WORLD-WIDE   STRUGGLE   AGAINST   MONOPOLY. 

(2.)  The  publicity  given  to  the  work  of  these  Cor- 
porations threw  off  suspicion  and  criticism.  There 
must  be  a  periodical  publication  of  each  syndicate 
showing  the  exact  condition  of  the  company  ^s  affairs, 
and  any  faithless  or  dishonest  director  of  the  stock 
company  is  speedily  punished. 

(3.)  There  is  a  popular  sentiment  in  Germany  that 
syndicates  are  a  necessary  element  to  true  business  ad- 
vancement, and  that  these  combinations  are  necessary 
to  secure  a  large  foreign  trade.  The  extraordinary 
developments  of  commercial  and  manufacturing  inter- 
ests have  also  had  a  quieting  effect  on  the  people.  The 
workers  of  Germany  compared  with  those  of  other 
countries  receive  smaller  pay,  but  *  ignorance  is 
bliss,''  and  as  long  as  this  contentment  continues,  the 
people  will  suffer  privations  rather  than  become  rest- 
less and  clamor  for  better  conditions. 

ENGLAND. 

This  is  also  one  of  the  countries  which  has  been 
afflicted  by  the  Trust  mania.  London  is  the  great 
center,  and  it  is  estimated  that  nine-tenths  of  Eng- 
land's trade  combinations  have  their  head-quarters  in 
this  famous  city.  Railway  and  Brewing  Companies 
form  certain  combinations  for  self -protection.  Many 
attempts  have  been  made  to  form  ** Rings,"  or  ** Cor- 
ners," but  these  are  of  an  entirely  different  nature 
from  Trusts  or  Trade  Combinations,  being  merely 
speculative  dealing  or  gambling.  There  are  certain 
combinations  that  have  affected  the  business  life  of 
the  empire,  such  as  the  '*Fine  Cotton  Spinners," 
** Sewing  Cotton  Combination,"  ** British  Lustering 


THE   WORLD-WIDE   STRUGGLE  AGAINST   MONOPOLY.    143 

Syndicate,^'  ^^ United  Alkali  Co.,''  **Wall  Paper 
Trust''  and  the  ^^Coal  Trust." 

We  might  proceed  to  mention  a  long  list  of  Trusts, 
but  this  is  not  necessary,  inasmuch  as  the  United  King- 
dom of  Great  Britain  has  fostered  various  kinds  of 
Trade  Combinations  almost  without  a  protest.  The 
workingmen  have  attempted  to  organize  in  a  mild 
fashion  compared  to  the  Labor  Organizations  of  our 
country.  In  the  year  1900,  Mr.  John  Galloway  made 
an  effort  in  the  Glasgow  Chamber  of  Commerce,  to 
force  legislation  against  the  formation  of  large  Asso- 
ciations, Trusts,  Sjnidicates  or  Combines.  All  his  ef- 
forts were  unavailing,  and  it  seems  that  there  was  but 
little  stir  over  the  matter.  The  majority  who  would 
have  power  to  act,  seemed  to  think  that  the  motion  of 
Mr.  Galloway  was  not  worthy  of  serious  consideration, 
and  the  ^* Daily  Mail,"  one  of  the  influential  papers  of 
Glasgow,  discussed  the  whole  situation  briefly  and  ter- 
minated with  these  words :  *  *  In  a  free  country  such  as 
ours,  there  can  be  no  law  against  freedom  of  combina- 
tion for  commercial  purposes.  The  remedy  that  is  re- 
quired is  not  legislation  but  competition." 

The  only  explanation  of  this  indifference  is  that  the 
country  has  not  felt  the  most  cruel  pangs  of  Monopoly. 
The  dark  side  of  the  question  will  not  be  fully  seen  un- 
til greater  antagonism  is  manifested  toward  the  kings 
of  the  Trusts.  When  that  time  comes,  Labor  will  be 
more  aggressive  in  its  efforts  to  secure  justice  for  all. 

Although  England  is  the  greatest  field  to  study  So- 
cialism, yet  it  has  been  one  of  the  slower  countries  to 
express  itself  politically.  Perhaps  the  people  are 
more  thoroughly  educated  and  more  in  favor  of  social- 
istic principles  than  in  any  other  country  in  the  world. 


144 


THE   WORLD-WIDE   STBUGGLE   AGAINST   MONOPOLY.    145 

One  of  the  oldest  and  most  important  organizations 
that  sowed  the  seeds  of  Socialism  was  called  the 
*^ Democratic  Federation''  which,  a  short  time  later, 
in  the  year  1883,  adopted  the  name  of  **  Social  Demo- 
cratic Federation/'  Under  this  last  name  the  organ- 
ization has  been  a  great  power,  and  contemporary  with 
it,  came  the  ^^Socialistic  League"  and  also  the  ** Fa- 
bian Society;"  and  other  organizations  that  have  is- 
sued books  and  periodicals  and  have  sent  out  lecturers. 
All  these  influences  have  helped  to  make  England  one 
of  the  most  up-to-date  countries  on  Socialism  in  the 
world. 

SCOTLAND  AND  IRELAND. 

These  two  aggressive  countries  are  waking  out  of 
their  sleep,  and  as  they  are  brushing  the  dust  from 
their  eyes,  they  are  looking  with  a  keen  glance  over 
the  fair  morning  of  promise,  and  it  is  believed  that 
their  strides  toward  the  socialistic  ideals  will  be  more 
regular  and  positive.  By  reason  of  their  proximity 
they  have  profited  and  will  continue  to  profit  by  mu- 
tual observation  and  avoid  many  of  the  painful  experi- 
ences through  which  England  has  passed.  One  of  the 
most  successful  experiments  of  the  public  or  municipal 
ownership  of  industries,  is  that  of  the  city  of  Glasgow, 
Scotland,  where  street  railways,  gas-works  and  water- 
works are  owned  by  the  city,  at  an  enormous  saving  to 
the  people.  The  Glasgow  system  has  become  the  study 
of  many  Americans. 

BUSSIA. 

The  enemies  of  Socialism  are  always  confounding 
Nihilists  and  Anarchists  with  Socialists.    This  is  ab- 


146   THE   WORLD-WIDE   STRUGGLE   AGAINST   MONOPOLY. 

surd,  and  only  indicates  the  ignorance  of  him  who  al- 
lows himself  to  be  confused  on  these  subjects.  Nihil- 
ism is  a  most  violent  expression  of  opposition  to  the 
government  by  the  more  vicious  class  of  laborers  in 
Russia,  who  think  they  have  no  other  way  to  express 
their  indignation.  Bomb-throwing  and  assassination 
are  their  familiar  weapons.  Eussia  has  been  binding 
the  chains  upon  her  subjects  for  centuries.  She  has 
first  tantalized  her  subjects  by  granting  them  priv- 
ileges of  education  and  certain  liberties,  and  then 
about  the  time  the  people  were  to  enjoy  the  benefits  of 
liberty,  Russia  refused  to  allow  them  to  enter  upon 
them.  It  is  easy  to  see  how  Nihilism  could  grow  in 
such  a  soil.  There  is  a  continual  censorship  over  the 
people,  and  he  who  criticises  the  Government  is  sent 
into  exile  in  the  wild  wastes  of  Siberia.  The  one  who 
loses  patience  and  utters  expressions  of  protest,  has 
the  privilege  of  being  a  martyr  to  the  cause  of  liberty, 
and  Russian  history  is  full  of  incidents  where  heroic 
or  defiant  subjects  have  been  put  to  death. 

It  is  remarkable  how  these  Nihilists  give  their  lives 
for  the  cause  of  liberty,  and  how  they  gladly  execute 
any  secret  task,  knowing  that  they  are  subject  to  de- 
tection, and  execution.  When  those  who  are  caught 
are  shot  or  hanged,  they  die  without  relenting. 

No  power  can  hold  the  proletarian  down  when  once 
he  gets  the  perfume  of  the  breath  of  liberty,  and  con- 
sequently the  people  of  Russia  are  kindling  new  fires  of 
enthusiasm  secretly  and  openly,  and  the  rights  of  the 
common  people  are  being,  pushed  to  the  front.  A  few 
brave  men,  such  as  Tolstoi,  have  championed  the  cause 
of  the  common  people  in  the  name  of  liberty,  and  the 
war  with  Japan  has  been  one  more  death-blow  to  des- 


THE   WORLD-WIDE   STRUGGLE   AGAINST   MONOPOLY.   147 

potism  on  the  throne  of  Russia.  We  are  therefore  glad 
to  relate,  that  over  that  country  of  sunset  gloom,  there 
is  arising  the  morning  sun  of  true  liberty  and  true 
recognition  of  the  relation  of  man  to  man,  and  before 
the  Twentieth  Century  shall  have  run  its  quarter 
its  people  will  stand  in  the  glory  of  the  new  light,  and 
who  knows,  but  that  they  will  take  at  the  same  bound, 
some  of  the  lofty  ideals  of  Christian  Socialism. 

BELGIUM. 

In  this  small  country,  the  matter  of  Trusts  and 
Monopolies  has  not  come  to  the  front  as  in  many  other 
countries,  but  the  cause  of  labor  is  considered  more 
than  in  eight  other  countries  in  Europe.  The  prin- 
ciples of  Socialism  are  rapidly  entering  the  political 
arena,  and  already  there  have  been  polled  half  a  mil- 
lion votes  directly  and  indirectly  expressive  of  social 
ideals.  The  world  of  Labor  gladly  welcomes  this 
young  and  thrifty  host  of  voters  into  its  ranks. 

THE  AUSTRALIAN  STATES. 

The  labor  movement  in  the  Australian  States  re- 
ceived its  prime  inspiration  in  1890.  Around  this 
period  a  political  party  with  a  clear-cut  platform  arose 
in  nearly  all  the  States.  We  will  present  a  few -facts 
as  gathered  by  Miss  Lillian  Locke  of  Melbourne  and 
published  in  ** Social  Progress,"  1905. 

**At  the  present  time,  1904,  in  the  second  Parliament 
of  the  Australian  commonwealth,  labor  is  represented 
by  thirty-eight  pledged  members,  fourteen  of  whom 
are  in  the  Senate,  which  contains  thirty-six  members, 
and  during  the  past  year  we  have  witnessed  the  unique 


148   THE   WORLD-WIDE   STRUGGLE  AGAINST   MONOPOLY. 

spectacle  of  a  labor  government  which  held  office  for 
four  members.  The  party  is  now  in  possession  of  the 
opposition  benches. 

''In  New  South  Wales,  from  1895  to  1901,  the 
strength  of  the  Parliamentary  party  was  about  eight- 
een or  nineteen,  increasing  again  to  twenty-five.  Can- 
didates are  pledged  to  the  political  Labor  League  plat- 
form (which  does  not  differ  in  essentials  from  that 
adopted  by  the  other  States).  They  are  also  pledged 
to  vote,  especially  on  questions  affecting  the  fate  of  a 
government,  as  a  majority  of  a  duly  constituted  cau- 
cus may  decide. 

**  Victoria  sent  four  Labor  men  into  Parliament  in 
1889,  and  the  party,  though  unpledged,  increased  to 
eleven  in  a  house  of  ninety-five  members  by  the  year 
1902.  In  the  elections  of  1904  the  party  was  successful 
in  securing  nineteen  seats,  notwithstanding  the  fact 
that  a  reduction  of  nearly  one-third  in  the  number  of 
members  was  carried  out,  and  that  Conservative  gov- 
ernments had  held  sway  for  a  number  of  years  pre- 
viously. ' ' 

WEST  AUSTRALIA. 

''Trade  unionism  is  in  West  Australia,  as  in  Queens- 
land, the  bedrock  of  the  labor  movement.  In  both 
houses  of  the  Federal  Parliament  the  Labor  men  se- 
cured every  seat  but  two.  The  first  Trades  Union 
Congress  was  held  in  1898,  when  some  4,000  workers 
were  represented.  At  the  present  time,  1904,  there  are 
about  30,000  workers  organized.  Seven  pledged  Labor 
men  were  returned  to  Parliament  in  1900,  while  at  the 
last  elections  they  had  increased  to  twenty-three,  and 


THE   WORLD-WIDE   STRUGGLE   AGAINST   MONOPOLY.    149 

a  Labor  Cabinet,  which  includes  one  Liberal  Minister 
in  the  Upper  House,  is  now  holding  the  reins  of  gov- 
ernment. ^ ' 

TASMANLi. 

**  Tasmania  is  slowly  but  surely  being  brought  into 
line  with  the  other  States  as  regards  the  labor  move- 
ment. There  are  at  present  only  four  Labor  repre- 
sentatives in  the  State  Parliament,  but  there  are  in- 
dications that  a  great  awakening  will  take  place  be- 
fore long  owing  to  the  bad  conditions  of  the  workers, 
the  incubus  of  unjust  taxation,  and  the  loss  of  popula- 
tion owing  to  land  monopoly  and  other  causes.'' 

If  it  were  necessary  we  might  also  give  a  brief  de- 
scription of  Capital  and  Labor  in  all  the  other  civil- 
ized countries  of  the  globe.  But  we  have  given  enough 
to  illustrate  the  universal  uprising  of  Labor.  One  of 
the  first  great  facts  we  learn  when  viewing  the  whole 
situation  is  that  the  struggle  between  Capital  and  La- 
bor is  one  of  the  most  complicated  of  all  the  contests  in 
the  world.  We  learn  from  the  condition  of  things 
in  Austria  that  long  years  may  be  required  to  settle 
the  restlessness  occasioned  by  these  two  great  forces. 
We  learn  from  the  very  brief  consideration  of  France 
that  legislation  against  Monopoly  can  be  very  help- 
ful. From  Germany  we  learn  the  lesson  that  it  is  pos- 
sible for  centralization  of  Capital  to  grow  without 
arousing  serious  suspicion  in  the  minds  of  the  public. 
Each  one  of  these  countries  furnishes  its  peculiar  les- 
son to  us  on  the  burning  question  of  Capital  and  Labor 
But  the  United  States  is  the  chief  field  of  agitation  in 
the  world  to-day.     The  more  discussion  that  takes 


150   THE    WORLD-WIDE   STRUGGLE   AGAINST   MONOPOLY. 

place,  the  more  it  becomes  apparent  that  the  two  sides 
of  the  great  conflict  are  preparing  for  a  long  siege.  The 
civilized  world  is  watching  the  outcome  of  this  struggle 
in  the  great  country  of  freedom,  and  no  doubt,  the  his- 
tory of  the  near  future  will  have  some  very  interesting 
facts  to  relate. 


CHAPTER  XIL 


The  signs  of  the  times  can  be  read  at  every  turn  in 
our  civilization.  The  rapidly  increasing  wealth  of  our 
country  under  the  reign  of  capitalism  and  its  concen- 
tration in  the  hands  of  the  few  is  clearing  the  way  for 
our  downfall  as  a  nation.  This  history  of  past  ages 
has  proved  that  wealth  is  the  mother  of  luxury ;  luxury 
the  mother  of  vice;  vice  the  mother  of  political  corrup- 
tion which,  if  unchecked,  ends  in  national  death.  This 
is  the  brief  story  of  the  ultimate  curse  of  wealth  under 
private  ownership ;  and,  if  we  are  to  predict  the  future 
by  the  past  and  present,  we  would  say  that  disaster 
and  death  are  not  far  distant  unless  we  change  the 
course  of  our  action,  and  create  a  new  system  of  eco- 
nomics by  which  our  wealth  will  be  more  equally  dis« 
tributed. 

161 


152  THE  COMING  DISASTER. 

Wealth  is  one  of  the  most  deceitful  things  in  our 
life.  It  deceives  the  ones  who  possess  it ;  the  ones  who 
are  in  pursuit  of  it,  and  those  who  never  expect  to 
enjoy  it.  Its  curse  has  drawn  a  black  mark  all  through 
the  pages  of  human  history  from  the  earliest  ages  of 
man.  The  God  inspired  Jeremiah,  a  long  time  before 
Christ  came,  uttered  these  words,  *^He  that  getteth 
riches,  and  not  by  right,  shall  leave  them  in  the  midst 
of  his  days,  and  at  his  end  shall  be  a  fool.'*  These 
are  sharp  and  painful  words,  and  have  proved  to  be 
true  down  to  the  present  time.  There  may  be  certain 
rich  people  who  have  gotten  their  riches  by  right,  but 
there  are  many  who  have  gotten  them  dishonestly. 
**They  shall  leave  them  in  the  midst  of  their  days*' 
ought  to  be  enough  to  discourage  any  man  from  the 
pursuit  of  wealth  along  an  evil  path.  Some  of  those 
who  have  gotten  their  riches  *^not  by  right,'*  drop  off 
suddenly  without  a  day's  warning,  while  sitting  at  the 
office  desk,  or  walking  on  the  street,  and  in  countless 
other  ways  they  are  snatched  from  the  busy  circle 
where  they  were  playing  their  part  in  the  absorbing 
drama  of  money  getting.  There  is  no  encouragement 
whatever  for  a  man  to  gain  riches  under  an  evil 
shadow,  when  he  knows  that  at  his  end  he  shall  be  a 
fool,  according  to  the  estimate  of  the  Divine  wisdom. 
Such  persons  are  not  always  considered  to  be  fools  by 
those  who  survive  them,  but  eternal  justice  holds  the 
record  of  their  folly,  and  places  upon  their  wasted 
lives  the  stamp  of  failure. 

In  all  ages  the  passion  of  money  gettiug  has  ruled 
in  countless  breasts,  and  has  driven  many  a  poor  soul  to 
a  fearful  wreck  on  the  shoals  of  greed.  When  Christ 
delivered  his  holy  doctrines  to  men,  he  took  no  uncer- 


THE  COMING  DISASTER.  153 

tain  stand  on  the  question  of  riches.  To  the  rich  young 
ruler  who  came  to  Him,  Christ's  final  test  of  his  sin- 
cerity was  the  request  that  the  young  man  part  with 
his  worldly  possessions,  and  the  young  man  of  fine 
moral  character  and  good  intentions,  allowed  himself 
to  think  more  of  his  riches  than  he  did  of  Christ ;  so  he 
went  away  sorrowful,  clinging  to  his  chaff  and  refusing 
the  wheat.  After  the  decision  of  this  rich  young  ruler, 
Christ  delivered  this  immortal  sentence,  **How  hard 
it  is  for  them  that  trust  in  riches  to  enter  into  the 
Kingdom  of  God ;  it  is  easier  for  a  camel  to  go  through 
the  eye  of  a  needle,  than  for  a  rich  man  to  enter  the 
Kingdom  of  God.'*  Mark  10:24-25.  They  that  heard 
these  words  fall  from  the  lips  of  Christ  understood 
them  as  little  as  the  great  rushing  throngs  of  the  pres- 
ent generation  understand  them.  The  study  of  the 
lives  of  the  apostles  and  the  early  teachers  of  Chris- 
tianity shows  that  these  saints  assumed  the  same  atti- 
tude toward  the  accumulation  of  wealth. 

Long  ago  Livy  said,  **  Avarice  and  luxury  have  been 
the  ruin  of  every  great  state. ' ' 

Babylon  showed  the  picture  of  wealth,  luxury,  licen- 
tiousness and  debauchery  on  one  hand,  and  poverty, 
wretchedness  and  slavery  on  the  other.  The  control- 
ling power  became  so  degraded  under  these  ruling  evils 
that  the  whole  kingdom  became  an  easy  prey  to  the 
power  that  crushed  her.  Let  it  be  suggested  that  if 
the  native  strength  of  Babylon  had  been  marshaled 
under  a  guiding  statesman  and  a  living  hero  of  unsel- 
fish and  patriotic  motive,  it  is  a  question  whether  any 
power  could  have  overthrown  her.  Babylon  is  only 
an  ancient  prototype  of  many  that  have  followed. 
Spain  was  weakened  more  by  internal  corruptions  than 


154  THE  COMING  DISASTER. 

external  foes.  Rome  went  down  in  the  same  manner. 
We  are  startled  when  we  see  that  Rome's  economic 
condition  was  on  a  parallel  with  ours,  before  her  down- 
fall. She  held  her  head  high  above  contemporary  pub- 
lic states  and  was  proud,  supposing  herself  to  be  with- 
out a  peer.  Theodore  Mommsen,  that  far-sighted  Ger- 
man, who,  according  to  several  critics,  wrote  the  best 
history  since  Gibbon  laid  down  the  pen,  said  in  volume 
4,  page  607,  in  his  history  of  Rome : 

*^In  consequence  of  this  economic  system,  based 
both  on  its  agrarian  and  mercantile  aspects,  on  masses 
of  capital  and  speculation,  there  arose  a  most  fearful 
disproportion  in  the  distribution  of  wealth.''  How 
about  our  own  country,  with  its  ever-increasing  wealth, 
far  beyond  the  power  of  accurate  estimation?  Over 
one-half  of  all  this  great  wealth  is  owned  by  less  than 
one  per  cent,  of  our  population,  and  at  the  same  time, 
one-half  of  our  population  is  not  receiving  enough  for 
its  labor  to  live  respectably  according  to  the  American 
standard. 

There  never  was  a  stronger  example  of  wealth  dis- 
proportion than  is  furnished  by  our  own  country. 
When  we  talk  about  the  wealthy  men  of  Rome,  we 
talk  about  children  at  play,  compared  to  the  wealthy 
men  of  our  country.  According  to  Thos.  E.  Watson, 
the  richest  man  in  Rome  was  Croesus.  His  wealth  was 
less  than  ten  millions.  His  would  have  been  a  small 
shaft  beside  the  towering  millions  of  a  Morgan,  a  Car- 
negie, or  Rockefeller.  Pompey  the  Great  was  worth 
three  and  a  half  millions.  He  would  hardly  have  made 
an  impression,  if  he  were  to  live  in  America  to-day 
with  his  wealth.  Other  men  of  Rome,  who  were  worth 
a  million  or  less,  stood  as  great  magnates,  and  a  man 


THE  COMING  DISASTER.  155 

who  would  spend  $200,000  for  a  country  residence,  or 
$1,000  for  a  horse,  or  $50,000  for  fine  imported  furni- 
ture, would  create  a  sensation  that  would  not  die  out  in 
a  day.  We  wonder  what  the  Roman  populist  would  have 
thought  of  some  of  our  modern  financiers  who  spend 
a  million  or  more  for  a  summer  home,  or  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  dollars  for  a  yacht,  or  the  same  amount 
for  a  stable,  or  house  furniture,  or  $20,000  for  a  sup- 
per, $17,000  for  a  sable  coat  and  $12,000  for  a  hat, 
etc.  Mommsen  also  relates,  **to  be  poor,  was  not 
merely  the  sorest  disgrace  and  the  worst  crime,  but  the 
only  disgrace  and  the  only  crime;  for  many  of  the 
statesmen  sold  the  state;  the  citizen  sold  his  freedom 
and  his  vote.  For  money,  the  lady  of  quality  surren- 
dered herself  a  common  courtesan.  *  *  *  Men 
had  forgotten  what  honesty  was.  The  man  who  refused 
a  bribe  was  regarded  not  as  an  upright  man,  but  as  a 
personal  foe.'*  We  shall  also  add  that  with  all  these 
conditions,  public  morals  became  so  low  that  adultery 
was  more  popular  than  disgraceful,  and  the  home  life 
rapidly  became  a  farce.  It  was  no  wonder  that  Rome 
went  down;  the  hand  of  justice  and  the  hand  of  God 
was  against  her,  because  of  her  own  sins  brought  on  by 
the  unequal  conditions  of  society  and  the  unequal  dis- 
tribution of  wealth. 

Take  a  glimpse  of  that  marvelous  country  of  mod- 
ern times,  England.  She  has  had  her  national  strength 
taxed  more  by  internal  corruption  than  by  any  external 
foe.  The  growth  of  riches  on  one  side  and  pauperism 
on  the  other,  under  the  competitive  system,  rushed 
England  into  one  of  the  most  terrible  crises  that  sha 
has  ever  experienced.  In  the  early  part  of  the  Nine- 
teenth Century,  for  a  certain  period,  pauperism  in- 
10 


156  THE  COMING  DISASTER. 

creased  six  times  as  fast  as  the  population.  Prof.  Ely 
says  in  ^^ Outlines  of  Economics/'  **One  of  the  best 
modern  writers  says,  in  speaking  of  Adam  Smith  and 
the  impending  revolution:  Hhere  were  dark  patches 
even  in  his  age,  but  we  now  approach  a  darker  period, 
a  period  as  disastrous  and  terrible,  because,  side  by 
side  with  a  great  increase  of  wealth,  was  seen  an  enor- 
mous increase  of  pauperism,  and  production  on  a  vast 
scale  led  to  a  rapid  alienation  of  classes  and  degrada- 
tion of  a  large  body  of  producers.*  '' 

We  have  always  believed  we  were  optimistic  rather 
than  otherwise,  and  we  hope  that  the  reader  will  not 
charge  us  too  suddenly  with  being  pessimistic,  as  we 
proceed  to  give  some  general  statements  concerning 
our  own  country.  Our  nation  has  left  the  stage  of  be- 
ing an  imitator  and  a  copyist.  We  no  longer  look  to  the 
other  parts  of  the  world  for  examples  of  speculation. 
We  are  setting  the  pace  and  are  furnishing  some 
original  examples  of  graft  and  monopolistic  enter- 
prise. The  most  stupendous  trust  combinations  on  the 
earth  have  been  formed  in  our  own  country,  and  it  is 
doubtful  whether  we  have  not,  until  recently,  gone  to 
the  lowest  level  in  our  winking  at  public  crime. 

We  are  a  country  of  millionaires  and  beggars,  and 
between  these  two  extremes  of  society,  there  is  a 
chasm  so  wide  that  no  power  under  our  present  sys- 
tem of  selfishness  and  private  greed  can  bridge  it. 
Along  with  this  abundant  wealth,  there  has  come  a 
luxury  that  is  not  only  terrible  but  ridiculous.  The 
extravagances  of  our  wealthy  people,  as  they  roll  in 
luxury,  has  created  a  sensation  in  all  parts  of  the 
world.  Thus  we  are  following  in  the  footsteps  of 
Eome,  and  our  orators  are  comforting  the  people  with 


THE  COMING  DISASTER.  157 

the  thought  that  there  can  be  no  danger  as  long  as  we 
are  a  Christian  nation.  We  answer  by  saying  that 
when  once  the  principles  of  Christianity  are  ignored 
by  the  legislatures  and  the  Congress  of  our  country,  we 
are  no  longer  the  Christian  nation  that  we  ought  to 
be.  The  only  bright  lights  of  this  country  are  the 
many  churches  that  are  clinging  to  the  plain  and 
simple  teachings  of  Jesus  Christ ;  they  are  the  salt  of 
the  nation,  and  to  the  last  hour  of  our  national  exist- 
ence, they  will  raise  their  protest  against  the  political 
chicanery  and  the  general  dishonesty  so  prevalent 
amongst  us. 

Political  corruption  is  on  the  increase,  and  if  you 
trace  the  whole  situation  back  to  its  origin,  you  will 
find  that  the  possession  of  great  wealth  by  a  limited 
number  of  people,  and  the  wild  efforts  of  others  to 
gain  wealth,  is  the  beginning  of  all  the  trouble. 

How  long  will  we  suffer  under  these  threatening  con- 
ditions? Shall  we  go  to  the  last  analysis  and  reap 
the  last  bitter  fruit,  or  shall  wo  welcome  the  light  of  a 
new  order  of  things  that  would  establish  a  safer 
equality  between  man  and  man,  giving  to  all  a  share 
of  the  natural  blessings  of  the  earth  and  the  product 
of  their  toil  1  If  such  a  system  is  not  established,  and 
our  people  blindly  go  on  in  their  present  course,  we 
will  open  our  eyes  when  it  is  too  late,  and  the  reaping 
time  will  be  the  sorrowful  time. 


The  illustration  on  the  opposite  page 
forcibly  portrays  two  of  the  great  evils 
that  are  helping  to  steer  Uncle  Sam  into 
the  awful  pit  of  National  Euin.  Perhaps 
Intemperance  is  the  most  blighting  of  all 
curses,  but  aside  from  this,  vice  is  closing 
the  moral  eyes  of  our  country  and  graft 
is  falsely  steering  the  automobile  of  state 
into  a  destruction  more  fearful  than  we 
imagine.  If  Uncle  Sam  will  throw  aside 
the  power  of  graft  and  throw  back  the 
evil  hands  of  vice  he  will  be  well  able  to 
go  on  at  his  rapid  pace  unharmed  and  un- 
conquered ;  if  not,  he  will  come  to  the  sad 
end  which  is  shown  so  forcibly  in  the 
picture. 


158 


The  Coming  Disaster — National,  Ruin. — If  Vice  and  Graft  continue 
their  interference  with  our  national  life,  disaster  will  surely  follow. 


Levels  of  Society. — Of  a  million  who  make  the  mad  effort  to  climb 
from  the  lower  to  the  higher  level,  only  a  comparatively  few  ever  reach 
the  top. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

If  we  ask  the  laboring  man,  **Wliy  are  the  wrongs 
you  suffer  not  righted  T'  he  quickly  answers  that  the 
whole  fault  rests  with  the  employer  and  the  Monopo- 
lists. Some  would  place  the  responsibility  elsewhere. 
If  we  ask  the  wealthy  who  is  to  blame  for  the  human 
suffering  along  the  lines  heretofore  indicated,  they 
are  liable  to  place  much  of  the  blame  on  the  sufferers 
themselves;  they  will  tell  us  that  the  workingman  is 
far  in  advance  of  what  he  had  been  in  any  former 
period  of  the  world's  history,  and  that  no  matter  how 
much  is  done  for  him,  he  will  still  suffer  by  reason  of 
his  own  carelessness,  neglect  and  indifference. 

Let  us  take  a  sober  view  of  the  whole  situation,  and 
call  in  the  large  middle  class  as  witnesses.  First  of 
all,  let  us  persuade  you  to  lay  aside  prejudice;  no 
mind  can  form  a  fair  decision  under  the  influence  of 
either. selfishness  or  prejudice.  If  you  can  forget  for  a 
moment  your  antipathy  toward  the  Monopolist,  I  shall 
then  declare  that  the  Monopolist  alone  is  not  to  blame 
for  the  present  condition  of  affairs.  Rightly  con- 
sidered, he  is  merely  a  result  of  the  present  social  sys- 
tem. The  Monopolist  has  taken  advantage  of  condi- 
tions ;  sad  to  say,  he  has  done  it  unfairly  at  times,  but, 

161 


162  WHY  AEE  THE  WRONGS  NOT  RIGHTED  f 

nevertheless,  he  has  only  improved  the  opportunities 
at  hand;  and  by  luck  or  pluck,  he  has  come  into  pos- 
session of  large  holdings,  by  the  manipulation  of 
which,  he  has  opened  the  way  for  still  larger  posses- 
sions. Is  it  not  true  that  what  he  is  doing  on  a  large 
scale,  the  great  majority  of  little  fish  are  doing  on  a 
small  scale?  Are  there  not  a  few  men  and  women 
who  want  just  a  little  more  than  the  regular  measure 
or  the  regular  weight  when  they  are  buying  I  Do  they 
not  make  the  best  possible  use  of  $100  or  $1,000,  pro- 
viding they  wish  to  save;  and,  in  their  investing,  if 
they  know  of  one  safe  way  to  make  $10  more  than 
another  way,  will  they  not  adopt  the  way  that  brings 
the  largest  return? 

Take  the  large  army  of  small  dealers  who  have  been 
pitied  so  much  by  reason  of  the  handicap  under  which 
they  are  compelled  to  do  business;  are  they  not,  as  a 
class,  made  of  the  same  kind  of  **  stuff  as  the  Mo- 
nopolists? Do  they  not  make  on  their  merchandise 
large  profits  where  they  can,  and  small  profits  only 
when  they  must?  Does  not  the  competitive  system 
urge  them  on  in  a  wild  frenzy  at  times  to  grasp  the 
almighty  dollar  with  the  same  intensity  that  the  great 
magnate  grabs  a  million?  In  what  respect  does  the 
spirit  of  these  two  men  differ?  If  both  were  photo- 
graphed before  the  omniscient  camera  of  divine  Jus- 
tice, would  not  the  pictures  appear  nearly  alike?  How 
many  men  are  there  within  the  range  of  your  acquaint- 
ance, who  would  refuse  to  make  $25,000  or  $100,000  in 
a  business  deal,  if  an  opportunity  came  their  way,  even 
if  they  were  obliged  to  wink  a  little  at  their  consciences  ! 

Now  as  we  have  asked  these  questions,  we  will  call 
npon  jon  for  arx  answer?  what  will  it  boT    At  first 


WHY  ABE  THE  WRONGS  NOT  RIGHTED?  163 

thought  you  may  still  see  a  big  difference,  but  the 
more  you  analyze  the  situation  the  more  you  will  find 
that  the  main  difference  is  because  the  one  deals  in 
big  money  and  the  other  in  little  money.  The  one 
has  advanced  a  number  of  degrees  farther  than  the 
other  in  the  same  frenzied  path,  and  you  pity  the 
poorer  fellow,  because  he  runs  up  against  a  rock  over 
which  he  thinks  he  cannot  climb,  and  you  cry  out 
'*poor  wretch'';  or,  perchance,  you  see  another  who 
utterly  fails  to  make  any  progress,  owing  to  the  heavy 
weights  with  which  he  is  burdened,  and  he  sinks  down 
exhausted,  and  you  also  cry  out  **it  is  a  pity;''  and  on 
the  other  fellow  who  has  gone  to  the  farther  end  of 
the  same  path,  you  pour  out  your  righteous  indigna- 
tion or  vials  of  wrath.  Where  can  a  man  be  on  this 
mad  road  of  competition  and  have  your  approval? 

I  hear  another  one  answering,  **Well,  if  the  Mo- 
nopolist is  not  to  blame,  on  whom  can  the  blame  be 
placed?  Shall  we  place  it  on  the  poor  laborer?"  Let 
us  try  to  answer  that  question.  The  so-called  poor 
laborer  is  poor,  because  he  has  not  been  able  to  sur- 
vive in  the  great  struggle ;  or,  perchance,  he  has  never 
entered  the  field  of  competition,  except  for  a  job.  He 
may  be  unlettered  and  unlearned,  and  has  been  forced 
by  circumstances  to  accept  the  mere  level  of  manual 
labor.  Either  from  lack  of  opportunity  or  desire,  he 
has  never  taught  his  mind  to  soar  into  the  lofty  and 
inspiring  region  of  the  philosophies  or  to  bask  in  the 
sunlight  and  warmth  of  the  fine  arts.  What  has  he  done 
to  make  his  condition  worse,  except  to  raise  no  protest 
to  the  arm  that  crushed  him?  Surely  the  blame  of  so- 
cial wretchedness  cannot  alone  be  placed  on  him.  He 
is  partly  responsible  for  some  of  his  own  suffering, 


164  WHY  AEE  THE  WRONGS  NOT  RIGHTED? 

but  he  is  not  playing  the  principal  part  in  perpetuate, 
ing  the  grinding  system  under  which  he  lives.  If  the 
blame  cannot  be  placed  on  either  the  Monopolist  or 
the  Laborer,  where  then  shall  it  be  placed? 

The  fault  lies  mainly  in  the  present  Social  System. 
Private  ownership  and  free  competition  have  wrought 
a  fearful  havoc  in  human  society,  and  have  made  pos- 
sible the  sad  conditions  under  which  men  and  women 
are  living  to-day.  Private  ownership  of  public  utili- 
ties has  fostered  the  spirit  of  selfishness,  so  that  in 
the  mad  rush  of  life,  the  policy  of  each  one  is  to  grab 
all  he  can  for  his  own  use.  Selfishness  is  on  the 
throne,  crowned  and  adorned  until  it  is  made  to  look 
beautiful.  Before  this  vile  and  debasing  queen,  the 
great  and  small  pay  their  respects.  The  self-center- 
ing of  thought  is  the  black  curse  of  the  age,  and  the 
barren  life  it  creates  and  fosters  can  be  likened  unto 
a  great  desert.  The  exceptions  to  the  rule  are  the 
few  philanthropists  and  other  people  likewise  minded 
who  form  the  welcome  oases  over  this  wild  desert 
waste  of  human  life. 

There  are  many  who  think  that  our  government  is 
about  as  perfect  as  can  be  expected.  We  ask  such  to 
give  reasonable  consideration  for  a  moment  to  the  fol- 
lowing. Why  should  it  be  necessary  for  each  one  to 
push  somebody  else  down  in  order  to  lift  himself  up 
in  the  commercial  world?  Would  it  not  be  much  bet- 
ter if  the  spirit  of  co-operation  would  prevail  and  so 
fulfill  the  law  of  the  world's  greatest  teacher,  **Bear 
ye  one  another's  burdens?"  The  man  who  is  doing 
business  under  our  present  system,  and  who  literally 
tries  to  obey  this  law,  will  soon  reach  insurmountable 
difficulties ;  he  will  find  that  by  trying  to  bear  the  bur- 


WHY  ABE  THE  WRONGS  NOT  RIGHTED?  165 

dens  of  his  competitor,  he  will  place  upon  himself  a 
burden  too  heavy  to  bear.  One  of  the  saddest  com- 
ments we  heard  of  late  came  from  the  lips  of  a  man 
whom  we  believed  to  be  an  honest  Christian.  He  was 
in  business  and  was  successful.  One  day  he  said  to 
us ;  *  *  One  of  the  saddest  things  in  my  business  life  is 
that  when  I  am  succeeding  well  as  the  result  of  my 
own  push,  some  other  dealer  is  suffering.** 

If  humanity  is  to  step  out  of  bondage  into  reason- 
able liberty,  it  must  not  depend  upon  the  natural  evo- 
lution of  society,  for  if  the  workers  themselves  do  not 
make  a  positive  advance,  it  is  doubtful  if  our  Heaven 
on  Earth  will  ever  prevail  in  the  industrial  world. 
Thus  it  can  be  clearly  and  logically  seen  that  the  only 
way  of  escape  is  by  the  establishment  of  a  new  system 
of  economics,  by  which  all  the  people  will  receive  the 
full  product  of  their  labor,  and  each  person  be  com- 
pelled to  do  a  portion  of  the  work  and  mutually  share 
all  the  burdens  of  human  society.  The  outlines  of  this 
new  order  will  be  given  later  in  the  book. 

Just  how  long  we  must  suffer  under  the  present 
conditions  until  there  can  be  sufficient  sentiment 
created  to  bring  about  this  wonderful  change,  no  one 
can  exactly  predict. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


I.— THE  RISE  OF  LABOR  UNIONS. 


In  the  earlier  chapters  of  this  book  we  considered 
the  worker  as  he  passed  from  one  condition  to  an- 
other in  the  line  of  human  advancement.  We  first 
studied  him  as  a  slave,  enjoying  no  privileges  except 
those  of  an  ordinary  animal.  After  this  period  of 
slavery,  we  noted  that  the  worker  was  a  serf, — a  crea- 
ture held  to  the  soil,  half  bound  and  half  free.  Later 
he  became  a  wage-earner,  which  was  another  step 
higher  in  the  scale  of  progress.  On  this  higher  plane 
he  began  to  suffer  unexpectedly,  for  his  burdens  grew 
more  and  more  intolerable  under  the  pressure  of  com- 
petition and  as  a  result  of  the  use  of  machinery. 

The  great  majority  of  writers  on  political  economy 
admit  that  the  laborer  of  the  present  age  is  suffering 
an  oppression  peculiar  to  our  times,  and  that  the  gen- 
eral influence  of  modem  life  and  conditions  only  tend 
to  increase  the  oppression.  It  is  certain  that  if  the 
laborer  had  remained  indifferent  to  his  welfare,  the 

166 


THE  EISE  AND  REIGN   OF  LABOR  UNIONS.  167 

day  of  bis  deliverance  would  yet  be  far  off;  but  for- 
tunately, tbe  oppressed  legions  nursed  tbe  aggrieved 
feelings  of  tbeir  common  bumanity  and  began  to  mass 
togetber  for  mutual  rigbts. 

At  first  tbis  combining  of  workingmen  caused  im- 
usual  alarm  in  tbe  ranks  of  capitalism,  and  conse- 
quently, England  passed  in  1800  severe  laws  forbid- 
ding workingmen  to  organize.  It  took  twenty-four 
years  of  suffering  and  martyrdom  on  the  part  of 
laborers,  before  tbese  laws  of  1800  were  repealed; 
but  tbe  prejudice  against  labor  unions  was  so  strong 
that  Prof.  Ely  tells  us  in  bis  book  on  **Tbe  Labor 
Movement  in  America,'*  that  in  1831,  Stephen  Simp- 
son, of  Philadelphia,  bad  occasion  to  say,  **If  mechan- 
ics combine  to  raise  their  wages,  the  laws  punish  them 
as  conspirators  against  the  good  of  society,  and  the 
dungeon  awaits  them  as  it  does  the  robber.  But  the 
laws  have  made  it  a  just  and  meritorious  act  that 
capitalists  shall  combine  to  strip  the  laboring  man  of 
his  earnings,  and  reduce  him  to  a  dry  crust  and  a 
gourd  of  water.'* 

As  the  years  passed,  the  worker  and  his  rights  be- 
came more  and  more  recognized,  and  it  remained  for 
the  glorious  Nineteenth  Century  to  witness  the  worker 
entering  the  ranks  of  organized  labor.  This  is  a  mod- 
ern phase  of  the  worker's  advancement,  and  no  doubt 
it  is  one  of  the  last  movements  before  the  final  vic- 
tory of  Labor  over  Capital  is  achieved.  With  the  ad- 
veat  of  organized  labor,  the  army  of  employers  be- 
came more  and  more  suspicious,  and  they  feared  a 
sudden  precipitation  of  an  industrial  revolution,  and 
naturally,  their  antagonism  became  more  and  more 
intense.     At  the  same  time  the  workers  also  became 


168  THE  RISE  AND  REIGN   OF  LABOR  UNIONS. 

more  and  more  determined  that  the  advance  ground 
purchased  by  so  many  costly  sacrifices  should  never 
be  taken  from  them.  This  was  the  beginning  of  a 
great  movement  that  will  not  have  its  end  until  some 
thoroughly  satisfactory  settlement  is  made  between 
the  two  contending  parties.  The  dawning  of  the  new 
era  has  thrown  its  light  upon  the  two  great  forces, 
each  one  being  determined  to  win  the  day. 

II.— THE  EEIGN  OF  LABOR  UNIONS. 

The  first  world-wide  movement  among  workers  was 
organized  at  London  in  1864,  and  was  called,  *^The 
International  Wo rkingmen^s  Association.''  Its  object 
was  to  advance  Labor  and  to  elevate  the  worker  to  a 
higher  plane  of  living.  The  first  congress  was  held  at 
Geneva  in  1866,  and  from  that  year  on,  conventions 
have  been  held  in  different  countries.  The  history  of 
this  organization  is  replete  with  radical  measures  and 
bold  efforts,  and  even  anarchistic  elements  were  asso- 
ciated directly  and  indirectly  with  the  organization. 

Considering  the  United  States  alone,  the  first  great 
labor  movement  was  born  shortly  after  the  Emancipa- 
tion Proclamation.  It  seems  as  if  the  liberty  that  was 
given  to  4,000,000  slaves,  started  the  fires  of  industrial 
liberty  among  all  classes,  and  accordingly,  in  1869,  the 
^^  Knights  of  Labor  *'  was  organized  in  Philadelphia. 
After  nine  years  of  victories  and  defeats,  this  organiza- 
tion held  its  first  general  assembly  in  1878  at  Eeading, 
Pa.,  where  seven  states  were  represented.  This  union 
took  into  its  grasp  the  skilled  and  unskilled  workers, 
regardless  of  trade,  and  aimed  to  bring  all  Labor  units 
together,  and  secure  for  everybody  some  kind  of  a  Co- 
operativf     Commonwealth,    as    indicate/J     fey    theif 


THE  RISE  AND  REIGN   OF  LABOR  UNIONS.  169 

declaration  of  principles  which  were  adopted  at  the 
Reading  Convention  as  follows : 

1.  ^'The  organizing,  educating  and  directing  of  the 
power  of  the  industrial  masses.** 

2.  *^The  true  standard  of  national  and  individual 
greatness  is  the  industrial  and  moral  worth,  and  not 
wealth. '  * 

3.  **The  workers  should  have  the  full  enjoyment 
of  the  wealth  they  create.*' 

To  secure  these  aims,  this  young  and  thrifty  body 
demanded  the  establishment  of  a  bureau  of  labor  sta- 
tistics, and  the  prohibition  of  the  employment  of  chil- 
dren under  the  age  of  fifteen  years,  and  the  abolition 
of  the  convict  labor  system ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  it 
urged  the  establishment  of  co-operative  institutions  as 
a  substitute  for  the  present  wage-system.  It  also 
started  the  movement  toward  the  eight  hour  day. 

The  Knights  of  Labor  profited  somewhat  by  the  Na- 
tional Labor  Union,  which  started  with  great  promise 
and  ran  its  career  from  1866  to  1872,  when  it  was 
wrecked  by  running  on  the  reef  of  politics.  Still  on- 
ward moved  the  Knights  of  Labor,  fighting  the  trades 
unions  because  they  differed  in  the  plan  and  scope  of 
their  work.  When  the  Knights  held  their  general  as- 
sembly in  1886,  the  delegates  reported  a  total  member- 
ship of  300,000,  but  owing  to  certain  differences  that 
arose,  there  was  a  split  at  that  time,  and  the  greatest 
labor  organization  of  the  world  had  its  origin  in  the 
formation  of  **The  Americ^ji  Federation  of  Labor,** 
organized  December  8th,  1886.  From  this  time  on- 
ward, the  mother  gradually  died  a  natural  death,  and 
the  child  waxed  strong.  This  great  organization  ac- 
cording to  Encyclopedia  Americana  has  for  its  objects : 


170  THE  RISE  AND  REIGN   OF  LABOR  UNIONS. 

1.  **The  encouragement  and  formation  of  local 
trade  and  labor  unions,  and  the  closer  federation 
and  combination  of  such  bodies;  to  secure  legislation 
in  the  interest  of  the  working  masses/' 

2.  ^^The  establishment  of  national  and  interna- 
tional trade-unions,  based  upon  a  strict  recognition  of 
the  autonomy  of  each  trade,''  etc. 

3.  **  An  American  Federation  of  all  national  and  in- 
ternational trade-unions,  to  aid  and  assist  each  other" 
and  *Hhe  sale  of  union-label  goods,  and  to  secure  na- 
tional legislation  in  the  interest  of  the  working  people, 
and  influence  public  opinion  by  peaceful  and  legal 
methods  in  favor  of  organized  labor." 

4.  **To  aid  and  encourage  the  labor  press  of 
America. ' ' 

This  powerful  organization  held  under  its  grasp  in 
1905,  114  national  unions,  representing  a  membership 
of  over  2,000,000. 

Certain  labor  unions  have  gone  beyond  the  mere  ef- 
fort to  secure  their  rights,  and  have  proved  their  hu- 
mane spirit  by  efforts  to  help  the  weak  and  unfortunate 
of  their  ranks.  Rev.  G.  Hodges,  D.  C.  L.,  cites  an  inci- 
dent in  Great  Britain:  ** During  the  ten  years  which 
began  with  1890,  one  hundred  English  unions  dis- 
tributed among  the  disabled,  the  superannuated  and 
the  needy,  $45,000,000.  *  *  *  There  is,  however,  an 
element  of  uncertainty  in  these  beneficent  arrange- 
ments. The  funds  which  are  in  the  treasury  of  the  union 
are  all  liable  to  be  taken  for  the  maintenance  of  strikes. 
*     *     *     They  are  contributed  with  that  intent." 

Aside  from  the  trades  unions  and  confederations  of 
workers,  the  Patrons  of  Husbandry  and  the  National 
Farmer's  Alliance  and  Industrial  Union  were  early  in 


THE  RISE  AND  EEIGN   OF  LABOR  UNIONS.  171 

the  field.  The  latter  became  aggressive  in  politics  and 
hoped  to  sweep  the  country  and  carry  it  with  the 
*^ Populist''  party. 

There  have  also  been  and  are  still  in  existence,  many 
independent  Labor  Unions,  each  one  striving  to  defend 
its  members  from  injustice  and  win  for  them  better 
conditions.  It  is  impossible  to  describe  the  many 
branches  of  the  Labor  forces;  they  are  marching  to- 
ward victory  by  the  legions. 

This  widespread  awakening  is  by  far  the  most  for- 
midable uprising  since  the  creation  of  man,  and  just 
what  the  outcome  will  be,  no  one  can  predict.  It  is  to 
be  hoped  that  such  an  army  will  be  guided  by  love,  pa- 
tience and  justice,  in  their  onward  marches  to  secure 
what  they  consider  to  be  their  rights. 

Whether  or  not  labor  unions  are  helpful,  will  be  con- 
sidered in  the  next  chapter. 


CHAPTER  XV. 


CONSIDERED 


The  Labor  Union  is  only  a  call  to  arms  in  self-defense. 
Its  main  objects  have  been  mentioned  in  the  last  chap- 
ter, and  if  these  could  be  realized  satisfactorily,  it 
might  happen  that  trade  unionisms  would  disappear. 
We  have  radicals  on  each  side  of  the  question.  Some 
men  believe  that  trade  unionism  will  eventually  pro- 
voke a  suffering  public  more  than  Monopolies  have 
done,  and  that  therefore,  they  will  receive  their  hardest 
blow  from  the  common  people.  Others  believe  that  this 
policy  is  the  most  effectual  to  secure  for  the  worker  his 
rights. 

In  1903,  Clarence  S.  Darrow,  attorney  for  the  miners 
before  the  Anthracite  Coal  Commission,  after  he  had 
taken  a  careful  view  of  organized  labor,  wrote  an  ar- 
ticle on  the  subject  from  which  we  quote  as  follows : 

*^So,  above  all  things  else,  trade  unionism  should 
turn  its  attention  to  political  action,  not  necessarily 
this  party  or  that,  but  toward  the  solution  by  law  and 
industrial  changes  of  the  problems  of  the  day.  For  in 
the  end  natural  laws  must  prevail/' 

173 


LABOB  UNIONS  CONSIDERED.  173 

*  *  The  energy  now  directed  toward  simply  organizing 
men  and  seeking  to  better  their  condition  by  raising 
wages,  must  be  more  largely  turned  towards  the  po- 
litical and  economic  questions  of  the  day  upon  which 
labor,  capital  and  wages  depend/' 

There  are  some  people  who  are  narrow  enough  to  ad- 
vise that  all  Labor  organizations  should  be  stamped 
out  of  eixstence,  just  because  a  few  rash  things  have 
been  done  by  some  of  their  members.  We  must  look 
at  this  matter  fairly.  The  surprise  is  that  there  has 
been  so  much  deliberation  and  coolness  on  the  part  of 
the  uprising  millions,  who  have  had  their  eyes  opened 
to  see  that  they  are  being  robbed  and  cruelly  crushed. 
That  the  spirit  of  mob  violence  has  been  largely  ab- 
sent, and  the  fires  of  insurrection  have  been  held  un- 
der control,  is  one  of  the  miracles  of  the  age. 

I.— OBJECTIONS  TO  LABOR  UNIONS. 

There  are  many  objections  filed  to  the  methods  of 
Labor  Unions,  and  some  of  these  objections  have  a 
good  foundation.  It  would  hardly  be  possible  that  the 
practical  workings  of  all  the  laws  and  regulations  of 
such  large  bodies  would  be  blameless.  It  is  a  common 
saying  that  you  must  fight  fire  with  fire,  or  in  our  own 
words,  you  must  fight  destruction  with  destruc- 
tion. This  is  not  a  thing  to  recommend ;  we  are  simply 
explaining  conditions  as  we  find  them  in  the  attitude 
cf  certain  labor  organizations.  Let  us  consider  for 
example  the  manner  in  which  the  unions  have  treated 
employers  in  some  instances.  They  have  forced  them 
by  strikes  or  boycotts  into  a  most  humiliating  condi- 
tion, and  then  dictated  terms,  telling  the  employer 
11 


174  LABOR  UNIONS  CONSIDEEED. 

how  he  must  run  his  business  and  what  wages  he  must 
pay,  if  he  wishes  to  use  union  men.  The  reason  for 
this  action  is  well  understood,  and  the  spirit  of  the 
action  often  works  contrary  to  the  Golden  Eule.  If  any 
union  man  owned  a  business  of  his  own,  and  hired  a 
dozen  men,  he  would  not  think  it  right  if  he  were  com- 
pelled to  consult  his  men  regarding  the  time  and  man- 
ner of  their  work.  He  would  naturally  think  that  he 
ought  to  know  better  than  his  hired  men  when  he 
wanted  a  piece  of  work  done,  and  who  should  do  it.  It 
is  well  known  that  union  men  sometimes  make  them- 
selves offensive  by  becoming  dictators  to  their  em- 
ployers. Even  workingmen  can  see  that  many  of  these 
things  are  wrong,  but  they  explain  by  saying  that  ex- 
treme measures  must  follow  extreme  conditions,  and 
that  the  unions  in  trying  to  get  their  rights,  have  done, 
and  are  doing  extreme  things. 

Trade  Unions  have  also  been  criticised  for  destroy- 
ing the  liberties  of  their  men,  compelling  them  to  go 
against  their  own  private  wishes,  in  order  to  comply 
with  a  hard  law  of  the  union.  It  has  frequently  hap- 
pened that  union  men  have  been  compelled  to  go 
against  their  natural  instincts,  and  quit  working  for 
an  employer  whom  they  loved,  and  at  a  shop  where 
they  had  been  working  for  many  years,  just  because 
rumors  or  facts  gave  evidence  that  the  employer  vio- 
lated the  rules  of  the  union  in  some  trivial  or  more 
important  matter.  These  are  some  of  the  painful  re- 
sults that  have  followed  in  the  enforcement  of  Labor 
Union  regulations,  and  have  done  more  to  antagonize 
the  large  army  of  ordinary  business  men  against  the 
unions,  than  anything  else. 


LABOR  UNIONS  CONSIDERED.  175 

Another  requirement  of  certain  trades  unions,  to 
which  objection  is  made,  is  the  limiting  of  apprentice- 
ship. The  following  letter  from  Ohio  to  one  of  the 
large  papers  of  New  York  City,  illustrates  the  evil 
working  of  the  law. 

*  *  To  my  mind,  the  action  of  Labor  Unions  in  prevent- 
ing boys  from  learning  any  trade  they  choose,  is  hurt- 
ful and  hateful  to  an  extreme  degree.  Any  boy  can 
learn  to  be  a  farmer,  or  a  clerk,  or  a  reporter,  or  a 
doctor,  lawyer,  or  priest,  without  leave  or  license  from 
any  one,  but  he  cannot  learn  certain  trades  without  the 
permission  of  a  Labor  Union.  A  union  of  doctors  or 
school  teachers  or  lawyers  who  undertook  to  prevent 
any  boy  from  learning  to  earn  his  livelihood  in  these 
professions,  would  be  denounced. 

^^Can  you  give  good  reasons  why  the  actions  of 
Labor  Unions,  in  preventing  any  boy  from  learning 
any  trade  is  not  hideously  hateful  and  un-American, 
and  ought  not  to  be  detested  and  despised  by  every 
free  citizen  of  this  country. 

V^I  would  like  to  read  one  of  your  editorials  on  this 
aspect  of  labor  unionism,  which  seems  to  me  to  be 
nothing  less  than  infernal  in  its  malice  and  mean- 
ness.'' *' Martin  Cross.'' 

Looking  at  the  surface  of  things,  the  above  limita- 
tion looks  like  an  unfair  and  unreasonable  practice  or 
demand  on  the  part  of  any  Labor  Union.  The  only  way 
to  pass  an  opinion  upon  anything  of  this  kind,  is  to  get 
the  reason  that  the  union  had  for  making  such  pro- 
visions or  passing  such  laws.  The  union  claims  that 
if  too  many  boys  learn  a  certain  kind  of  trade,  there 
will  not  be  employment  enough  for  them  after  their 
trade  is  learned,  and  therefore,  they  will  not  be  alone 


176  LABOR  UNIONS  CONSIDERED. 

in  their  suffering,  but  also  the  men  who  have  already 
learned  this  trade  and  are  depending  upon  it  for  a 
livelihood  will  suffer  as  well.  It  is  therefore  con- 
sidered better  to  limit  the  number  of  persons  who 
shall  enter  apprenticeship,  than  to  allow  an  unlimited 
number  to  enter  and  share  the  disadvantages  that 
must  inevitably  follow.  This  is  the  position  of  the 
union,  and  there  is  a  great  amount  of  truth  and  justice 
in  its  position,  even  though  it  looks  like  an  un-American 
spirit.  With  the  advance  in  education,  there  are  now 
hundreds  of  boys,  where  formerly  there  were  ten,  who 
are  capable  of  going  into  the  better  trades,  and  there- 
fore, the  apparently  hard  measure  of  limiting  appren- 
ticeship had  its  origin  in  trying  to  check  the  flood  of 
applicants. 

To  all  questions  of  this  kind  there  are  clearly  two 
sides.  Consider  for  a  moment  the  question  of  doctors, 
physicians  and  lawyers.  Is  it  not  true  that  under  our 
present  system  of  unlimited  apprenticeship  there  are 
thousands  upon  thousands  of  professional  men  who 
fail  just  because  of  their  great  struggle  against  un- 
limited competition!  It  might  be  sensible  after  all, 
if  the  state  would  place  some  kind  of  limitation  at  the 
door  of  entrance  to  the  professional  life,  because  the 
more  we  have  in  the  field,  the  more  each  one  must 
struggle  to  make  a  fortune;  and,  therefore,  there  is  a 
strong  feeling  that  the  general  public  will  be  imposed 
upon  in  more  ways  than  one. 

Labor  organizations  are  also  looked  upon  with  fear 
and  trembling  by  many  great  thinkers,  who  declare 
that  in  the  end  they  will  do  more  harm  than  good.  It 
is  argued  that  when  they  will  be  needed  most,  they 
will  be  in  their  weakest  form.    Statistics  show  us  that 


LABOB  UNIONS  CONSIDERED.  177 

according  to  the  reports  of  the  census  of  1890  and  1900, 
and  the  eighteenth  annual  report  of  the  Department 
of  Labor,  the  army  of  the  unemployed  is  steadily 
growing  larger.  In  1890  when  a  large  percentage  of 
the  working  population  was  steadily  employed 
throughout  the  year,  there  was  a  great  boom  in 
trades*  organizations.  In  1900,  when  the  army  of  the 
unemployed  was  almost  20  per  cent,  larger,  the  unions 
experienced  greater  difficulty  in  holding  their  men 
together. 

We  have  given  a  few  chilling  facts  so  as  to  enable 
one  to  look  more  thoroughly  at  the  two  sides  of  the 
question.  Briefly  stated,  it  can  be  said  that  the  mis- 
sion of  Labor  Unions  is  to  open  the  way  for  the  last 
movement  against  Monopoly.  In  itself  it  will  not 
strike  the  final  blow,  but  will  give  way  in  due  time  to 
the  irresistible  march  of  coming  events  that  will  ac- 
complish the  victory. 

II.— BENEFITS  OF  LABOR  UNIONS. 

After  an  unprejudiced  person  has  presented  all  pos- 
sible objections  to  Labor  Unions,  he  is  still  convinced 
that  their  benefits  far  outweigh  the  valid  objections 
offered  to  them,  and  that  the  entire  movement  of 
trades  unions  has  been  one  of  the  most  powerful  agen- 
cies of  modern  times  to  advance  the  cause  of  the  work- 
ingmen.  Organization  has  been  the  order  of  the  day 
for  some  time  past.  All  classes  of  professional  men 
meet  in  Congresses.  Concerted  action  has  brought 
scientific  investigators  together,  and  great  things  are 
being  done  by  these  combinations.  It  was  in  such  an 
atmosphere  as  this,  that  organized  Labor  had  its  birth, 


178  LABOB  UNIONS  CONSIDERED. 

and  its  marvelous  growth.  With  all  its  evils  and  weak- 
nesses, it  will  be  looked  upon  in  after  ages  as  one  of 
the  most  potent  factors  in  checking  the  greedy  ad- 
vances of  Monopoly.  It  will  also  be  looked  upon  as 
the  most  sensible  method  of  getting  the  hearts  of  mil- 
lions of  common  workers  to  beat  in  sympathy  with  one 
another,  and  in  all  this,  the  future  historians  will  see 
more  blessings  than  curses,  more  good  than  evil,  more 
of  the  uplifting  than  the  degrading. 

Think  carefully  for  a  moment,  and  ask  yourself  the 
question,  *^What  equal  or  better  means  could  havq 
been  adopted  to  bring  together  the  widely  separated 
units  of  Labor  ? ' '  When  you  commence  to  answer  this 
question,  your  thoughts  are  drawn  toward  the  uniting 
of  labor  just  as  the  needle  of  the  compass  is  drawn  to- 
ward the  North  Pole.  Therefore,  we  feel  free  in  mak- 
ing the  declaration,  that  the  general  movement  of  labor 
organizations  is  the  most  logical  result  of  the  discon- 
tent among  workers,  and  the  most  natural  and  effective 
method  of  reaching  the  desired  end. 

Take  a  bird's-eye  view  of  what  has  been  accom- 
plished by  the  marvelous  movement  of  organized 
Labor : — 

1.  It  has  brought  about  the  system  of  payment  of 
wages  weekly  in  lawful  money  instead  of  the  old  time 
method  of  ^^ company  script  and  company  stores.'' 

2.  It  has  been  instrumental  in  having  laws  passed 
prohibiting  foreign  contract  labor. 

Can  you  remember  the  state  of  affairs  before  these 
laws  were  enacted!  It  was  an  easy  thing  for  con- 
tractors to  employ  agents  to  bring  foreigners  to 
America  in  hosts,  so  that  many  an  honest  American 
workingman  was  compelled  to  be  idle  for  a  season  and 


LABOR  tJi^rtONS  CONSIDERED.  i7& 

Suffer  from  threatening  starvation.    Modem  restric- 
tions have  somewhat  remedied  this  evil. 

3.  It  has  compelled  the  passage  of  sanitary  laws, 
requiring  employers  to  keep  their  workshops  and  fac- 
tories in  a  healthy  condition. 

4.  It  has  been  largely  instrumental  in  abolishing 
child  labor,  white  slavery  and  the  sweating  system. 
These  subjects  are  considered  elsewhere  in  the  book. 

5.  It  has  accomplished  a  reduction  in  the  hours 
that  constitute  a  day's  work. 

This  has  not  been  as  generally  adopted  as  some  of 
the  other  provisions,  but  warm  agitations  are  prevail- 
ing everywhere  to  gain  this  end.  More  will  be  said  on 
this  point  in  the  next  chapter  under  the  section: 
** Benefits  of  strikes.*' 

6.  Wages  have  increased  materially. 

There  is  no  question  on  this  point ;  but  of  what  bene- 
fit are  large  wages  if  the  cost  of  living  is  more  than 
relatively  increased?  Here  is  the  hardest  rub  of  the 
whole  question.  The  Labor  Unions  have  no  way  under 
our  present  system  of  controlling  the  cost  of  living. 
If  it  could  double  the  price  of  present  wages,  no  one 
knows  but  that  the  cost  of  living  would  be  tripled.  The 
laboring  masses  cannot  get  ahead  of  Monopoly  under 
free  and  unlimited  competition.  The  latter  part  of 
this  book  will  discuss  this  phase  of  the  question  more 
thoroughly. 

7.  It  has  shown  the  public  more  clearly  than  any 
other  agency  the  evils  and  dangers  of  Trusts. 

The  above  are  only  a  few  of  the  many  achievements 
of  organized  Labor.  Let  no  one  be  inconsiderate 
enough  to  pass  a  wholesale  condemnation  on  the  gen- 
eral work  and  methods  of  this  large  industrial  army, 


180  Labor  unions  conSidereI). 

without  taking  some  time  to  study  the  bright  side  of 
the  question.  Humanity  has  been  saved  from  what 
would  have  been  its  worst  form  of  slavery  by  the  ener- 
getic efforts  of  trades  unions.  If  we  look  at  the  unfair 
and  wretched  forms  of  slavery  at  the  present  time 
when  the  hand  of  greed  is  partly  checked,  we  get  a 
faint  glimpse  of  what  would  have  existed  under  the 
full  sweep  of  tyranny  and  merciless  oppression. 

So  we  must  ever  appreciate  the  good  that  has  been 
and  is  still  being  accomplished  by  organized  Labor, 
which  in  itself  will  not  strike  the  final  blow  against 
Monopoly.  It  will  no  doubt  finally  give  way  to  the 
irresistible  force  of  political  power  manipulated  by  the 
hosts  of  Labor,  and  thus  the  great  victory  will  be  won. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


We  have  in  the  previous  chapter  described  the  gen- 
eral conditions  of  the  Capital  and  Labor  warfare. 
The  discontent  among  workingmen  and  the  greedy  ad- 
vances of  Monopoly  demand  an  adequate  remedy,  and 
many  have  been  proposed.  In  this  chapter  we  will 
consider  the  remedies  that  we  believe  to  be  rash  in 
their  nature.  There  has  been  much  ignorant  striking 
in  the  dark  by  would-be  reformers,  and  some  of  these 
leaders  of  rash  movements  have  surely  done  some 
good,  even  though  their  pet  schemes  failed. 

There  are  some  remedies  given  in  this  chapter  that 
have  been  powerful  factors  in  awakening  public 
thought,  and  calling  its  attention  to  the  wrongs  that 
are  being  perpetrated  against  the  proletariat. 

181 


182  RASH  REMEDIES. 

I.— ANARCHY. 

Anarchy  has  come  to  be  a  S3m.onym  for  terror,  reck- 
lessness and  Godlessness,  with  fanaticism  for  its  guide 
and  dynamite  for  its  weapon.  A  disease  is  judged  by  its 
worst  symptoms,  and  so  indeed  anarchy  is  judged  more 
by  its  evil  fruits  than  by  the  teachings  of  its  literary  ad- 
vocates. Germs  of  the  movement  started  centuries 
ago,  and  later  developments  brought  to  light  at  least 
five  schools  of  anarchists, — the  evolutionary,  revolu- 
tionary, communistic,  individualistic  and  reformed. 
These  different  branches  all  agree  in  their  attitude  to- 
ward government.  ^^Down  with  the  state, '^  is  their 
cry.  A  few  definitions  of  anarchy  will  serve  to  set 
forth  its  aims  more  clearly.  The  leading  anarchist  of 
France,  Elisee  Recluse,  says,  **Our  object  is  to  live 
without  government  and  without  law.''  Benjamin  R. 
Tucker,  one  of  the  foremost  American  exponents  of 
anarchy,  gave  the  following  definition  in  a  letter  writ- 
ten to  that  noted  reformer,  Wilbur  F.  Crafts: 
**  Anarchy  is  a  state  of  society  where  there  is  no  gov- 
ernment. Anarchists  deny  government,  *  coercion  of 
the  non-evasive  individual.'  Anarchists  oppose  any 
form  of  industrial  administration  evolving  such  coer- 
cion. Anarchists  as  anarchists  neither  oppose  or  fa- 
vor any  other  forms  of  administration." 

According  to  the  Encyclopedia  Americana,  Prince 
Kropotkin,  the  famous  Russian  anarchist,  declares 
that  ^^no  cause  for  litigation  would  arise  after  we  had 
abolished  the  present  system  of  class  privilege  and 
unjust  distribution  of  the  wealth  produced  by  labor; 
that  creation  fosters  crime."    He  also  explains,  **We 


RASH  REMEDIES.  183 

are  nurtured  from  our  birth  to  believe  that  we  must 
have  government.  Yet  the  history  of  man  proves  the 
contrary.  When  small  bodies  or  parts  of  humanity 
broke  down  the  powers  of  their  rulers  and  resumed 
some  parts  of  their  ordained  freedom,  these  were  al- 
ways epochs  of  the  greatest  progress,  economically 
and  intellectually,  in  the  direct  ratio  to  the  freedom 
of  the  individual  who  advances.'^ 

The  evolutionary  anarchists  believe  that  no  force 
should  be  used,  indeed  they  are  radically  opposed  to 
violent  measures.  They  argue  that  society  will  finally, 
by  its  own  corruption,  go  to  pieces,  and  by  this  natural 
evolution,  the  theory  of  anarchism  will  be  vindicated. 
Such  men  as  Tucker,  Yarrow  and  others  have 
fathered  this  belief.  No  doubt  this  school  is  sincere 
in  its  teachings,  but  we  fear  it  will  wait  a  long  while 
before  all  law  will  be  abolished. 

The  revolutionary  anarchists  are  those  who  be- 
came impatient  at  the  slow  march  of  evolution,  and, 
wishing  to  help  their  cause  along,  adopted  more  vio- 
lent measures.  The  main  leader  of  this  school 
was  Bakunin.  He  was  nursed  on  the  milk  of 
infidelity,  and  being  fired  with  impatient  zeal,  he 
advocated  the  taking  of  the  fort  by  storm,  and  hoped 
to  arouse  the  common  populace  to  such  an  extent  that 
they  would  tear  down  all  the  existing  forms  of  human 
government.  He  kindled  the  fires  of  obnoxious  an- 
achy,  and  from  his  pen  flew  fire  brands  of  revolution. 
This  was  the  beginning  of  the  most  terrible  epoch  of 
anarchy  that  the  world  has  ever  seen,  and  it  has  not 
yet  seen  its  end,  although  the  weakness  and  futility 
of  its  course  has  been  fully  demonstrated. 


184  HASH  REMEDIES. 

As  the  outgrowth  of  these  revolutionary  measures, 
ail  the  kings  and  queens  of  Europe  were  trembling  on 
their  thrones  in  the  latter  part  of  the  Nineteenth  Cen- 
tury. As  the  outcome  of  the  widespread  plots,  Presi- 
dent Carnot  of  France  was  assassinated  in  1894;  the 
Empress  Elizabeth  of  Austria  in  1898 ;  King  Humbert 
of  Italy,  in  1900;  and  President  McKinley  of  the 
United  States  in  1901.  Other  attempts  were  made  on 
the  lives  of  kings  and  queens  during  the  same  period, 
as  the  outgrowth  of  the  same  movement.  The  French 
Chamber  of  Deputies  was  horrified  in  1893  by  the 
sudden  bursting  of  a  bomb  in  their  midst.  We  have 
not  forgotten  the  Haymarket  tragedy  of  1886  in  Chi- 
cago. These  violent  measures  have  done  more  to  kill 
the  cause  of  anarchy  than  all  other  things  combined. 

The  most  oppressed  workers  who  enjoy  any  kind  of 
liberties,  resent  the  bomb  method  of  expressing  their 
protest  against  the  government.  Who  would  want  to 
live  under  a  government,  or  in  any  society,  that  has 
been  forced  upon  us  by  the  spirit  of  the  bomb  thrower? 
Such  men  usually  want  full  license,  and  some  have 
been  bold  enough  to  declare  that  they  believe  in  free 
lust  and  free  love.  This  barnyard  policy  would  ex- 
actly agree  with  some  of  the  lowest  scum  of  society, 
but  the  most  untutored  who  glory  in  their  decency, 
can  easily  see  that  unbounded  liberty  to  everybody 
would  bring  us  into  a  chaos  out  of  which  we  could  only 
come  again  by  the  resort  to  rigid  law  and  custom. 
One  of  the  most  hopeful  signs  of  the  times  is,  that  the 
revolutionary  anarchists  have  good  sense  enough  to 
see  that  violent  measures  are  a  failure,  and  many  of 
them  are  falling  into  the  schools  of  communionism 


RASH  REMEDIES.  185 

and  individualism.  Johann  Most  of  the  United 
States,  and  Charles  Malatce  of  France,  and  Enrico 
Malatesta  of  Italy  are  leading  revolutionists  in  their 
own  countries. 

According  to  Joseph  Dana  Millier,  we  learn  that 
P.  J.  Proudhon  was  the  father  of  individualistic  an- 
archism. His  writings  have  had  a  magical  effect,  and 
have  been  foundation  stones  on  which  others  have 
built.  He  spent  a  great  part  of  his  life  trying  to  prove 
that  ** property  is  robbery.'' 

After  taking  a  sober  glance  at  the  principal  part 
of  the  field  of  anarchy,  studying  its  origin  and  its  pro- 
mulgation, we  will  now  summarize  its  teachings. 


1. — ^Law  and  Government  are  Invasive. 

This  means  that  they  are  purely  unnecessary,  and 
have  been  pushed  upon  society  through  injurious 
methods,  and  serve  only  to  destroy  the  welfare  of 
individuals. 


2. — It  Hopes  to  Give  the  Individual  Free  and 
Natural  Liberty. 

Eev.  E.  H.  Kistler,  A.  M.,  in  *^The  Evangelical''  of 
August  11,  1897,  puts  these  words  in  the  mouth  of  the 
anarchist:  *^Let  US  give  wild  rein  to  OUR  passions 
and  lusts ;  that  is  better  than  letting  the  others  do  it. ' ' 
In  another  brief  word  picture  he  says  concerning 
Anarchy :  *  *  It  is  a  plea  for  the  under-dog  to  be  lifted 
on  top,  and  to  be  even  more  bloodthirsty  than  the 


186  RASH  REMEDIES. 

present  top-dog.''  This  cry  of  personal  liberty,  ac- 
cording to  Crafts,  is  the  outgrowth  of  covetousness, 
lust  and  appetite,  and  such  liberty  can  only  be  found 
in  the  solitude  of  the  wilderness.  The  same  author 
endeavors  to  show  that  even  in  isolated  communities 
absolute  liberty  is  not  possible,  and  that  each  one  owes 
to  his  fellows  a  certain  regard  and  respect  which 
means  that  he  must  at  times  make  sacrifices  for  the 
sake  of  others.  It  is  hardly  thinkable  that  men  of 
knowledge  would  advocate  such  measures.  Law  and 
custom  grow  out  of  necessity,  and  if  we  could  start  the 
human  race  over  again,  the  same  evolution  would 
come  about.  We  also  learn  from  Divine  authority  that 
man  needs  to  be  under  law  as  well  as  under  grace ;  and 
indeed  when  he  is  under  grace  he  is  most  thoroughly 
under  law,  which  reigns  from  beginning  to  end.  As  to 
the  purity  and  justice  of  human  enactments,  we  have 
nothing  to  say  at  this  time. 


3. — Anarchy  Aims  to  Overthrow  All  Existing 
Government. 

This  third  condition  is  the  natural  result  of  the 
other  two,  and  is  a  means  whereby  the  first  two  named 
purposes  may  be  accomplished.  The  tearing  down  of 
government,  without  offering  anything  to  take  its 
place,  is  a  most  revolting  suggestion.  The  resort  to 
such  anarchy  is  always  a  backward  step,  putting  off  the 
day  of  deliverance.  All  reformers  must  learn  beyond 
the  shadow  of  a  doubt,  that  anarchy  is  a  death  blow  to 


RASH  REMEDIES.  187 

liberty,  and  is  as  poisonous  to  society  as  arsenic  is  to 
the  stomach. 

In  the  coming  ages  when  Labor  shall  have  won  its 
conflict  over  Capital,  and  when  the  fruits  of  human  toil 
will  be  equitably  distributed,  no  doubt  the  work  of  the 
more  temperate  anarchists  will  be  praised  because  of 
what  they  accomplished  in  awakening  society  and 
arousing  the  masses  against  the  oppressions  under 
which  they  suffered. 

Finally,  we  will  say  with  the  great  mass  of  working- 
men,  that  anarchy  is  a  rash  remedy  and  is  one  from 
which  we  must  turn  in  order  to  find  the  best  solution 
of  labor  troubles. 


IL-— NIHILISM. 

What  anarchy  is  to  the  other  nations,  nihilism  is  to 
Russia.  It  is  the  name  given  to  a  class  of  people  who 
were  organized  in  the  early  part  of  the  Nineteenth  Cen- 
tury in  Russia  for  the  purpose  of  lifting  the  slaves 
from  their  miserable  condition  and  introducing  a  con- 
stitutional form  of  government.  This  early  revolt  was 
quelled  and  its  leaders  executed.  Several  times  during 
the  Nineteenth  Century,  similar  organizations  were  ef- 
fected, mostly  in  secret,  and  frequently  their  plots  were 
exposed  and  their  leaders  either  killed,  executed  or 
banished.  But  liberty  like  ^Hruth,  crushed  to  earth, 
will  rise  again,''  and  so  the  advocates  of  reform  could 
not  be  crushed  out.  Although  they  were  executed  and 
punished,  yet  new  followers  ever  sprang  up  to  push 
on  the  cause  of  human  liberty. 

There  were  fiiTOngh.  the  years,  certain  radicals  who 


188  BASH  REMEDIE&. 

used  violent  measures,  such  as  were  adopted  by  the 
revolutionary  anarchists.  These  have  sent  terror  to 
the  rulers  of  Eussia  from  time  to  time. 

No  doubt,  out  of  this  warring  movement,  the  great 
leaders  of  reform  will  finally  gain  the  purpose  for 
which  they  are  struggling.  Although  nihilism  is  to  be 
condemned  for  its  severe  measures,  yet  it  is  one  of  the 
brutal  agencies  that  has  caused  a  great  awakening  in 
that  country,  and  is  itself  the  effect  of  the  grinding 
conditions  of  Church  and  State  in  Eussia.  We  turn 
from  nihilism,  because  we  do  not  find  in  it  any  better 
solution  of  the  social  question  than  we  find  in  anarchy. 
The  great  difficulty  with  anarchy  and  nihilism  is  that 
God  is  left  out  of  the  plan.  They  are  atheistic  in  their 
movements,  and  woe  betide  any  community  or  country 
that  comes  under  the  reign  of  lawlessness  and  God- 
lessness. 


III.— INSUEEECTION  AND  EEVOLUTION. 

In  some  respects  the  revolutionists  and  insurrec- 
tionists partake  of  the  spirit  of  anarchy.  The  history 
of  the  world  gives  us  many  examples  of  these  two  fire- 
brand methods  of  reform.  Popular  discontent  and  dis- 
satisfaction with  government  have  often  expressed 
themselves  by  an  organized  mob  rushing  upon  the  cen- 
tral government,  and  attempting  to  overthrow  the  old 
to  establish  some  new  and  perhaps  more  dangerous 
reign.  It  has  only  been  a  generation  ago  since  the 
revolutionary  spirit  asserted  itself  in  France  in  what 
is  commonly  known  as,  **The  Eising  of  the  Commune 
of  Paris.''    This  was  a  sudden  and  fanatical  effort  on 


BASH  KEMEDIES.  189 

the  part  of  the  common  people  who  found  themselves 
in  possession  of  fire-arms  after  the  siege  of  the  Ger- 
mans. The  insurrection  lasted  ten  weeks,  between  the 
forces  of  the  Communes  and  a  large  army  of  the  cen- 
tral government,  during  which  time  50,000  of  the  Com- 
munists were  killed  and  taken  prisoners. 

The  revolutionary  spirit  of  John  Brown  who,  with 
good  intentions,  sought  to  liberate  the  slaves,  is  still 
remembered  by  those  who  have  survived  the  war  times. 

It  must  be  acknowledged  that  revolutionary  meas- 
ures have  often  proved  to  be  a  blessing.  The  move- 
ment under  Cromwell  in  England,  and  the  action  of  the 
thirteen  American  colonies  against  England,  are 
notable  examples,  although  these  movements  are  not 
to  be  compared  to  the  petty  revolutions  that  are  fre- 
quently formed  by  a  few  men,  who  as  leaders,  instead 
of  fighting  for  principles,  are  simply  endeavoring  to 
force  upon  society  their  own  narrow,  selfish,  and  chi- 
merical ideas.  To  advocate  the  method  of  insurrec- 
tion or  revolution  in  all  cases,  just  because  great  suc- 
cesses have  been  obtained  in  some  cases,  is  absurd.  We 
wish  to  emphasize  that  the  spirit  of  rioting  is  the  same 
as  the  spirit  of  revolution,  and  the  cause  of  labor  is 
always  injured  by  such  methods. 


IV.— BOYCOTT. 

Boycott  is  one  of  the  weapons  by  labor  organiza- 
tions to  force  an  expression  of  sentiment  and  conces- 
sions in  their  favor.  For  our  present  consideration  we 
will  not  speak  of  this  weapon,  as  it  is  used  by  the  capi- 
13 


190  KASH  BEMEDIES. 

talis ts  also.  It  is  our  purpose  to  show  that  the  method 
of  boycott  is  one  of  the  rash  measures ;  and,  although 
it  has  served  a  purpose  in  a  number  of  instances,  it 
must  take  its  rightful  place  in  the  category  of  un- Chris- 
tian and  uncivil  methods  of  social  warfare.  There 
could  be  many  tales  of  horror  told,  if  all  the  facts  were 
related  concerning  the  war  between  the  union  and  the 
**scab.''  Many  things  are  done  in  the  heat  of  battle 
that  are  regretted  afterward,  and  the  time  will  come 
when  the  cruel  processes  of  boycotting,  intimidation 
and  blacklisting  will  be  regarded  as  belonging  only  to 
an  age  of  frenzied  endeavor  on  the  part  of  the  work- 
men to  get  their  rights. 


v.— ^^GEAND  DIVIDE.'' 


The  original  meaning  of  this  term  represented  some 
of  the  modern  socialistic  views  concerning  the  rights 
of  the  workingmen.  Some  writers  and  strikers  have 
played  upon  this  term  and  have  given  it  a  low-grade 
meaning.  They  have  said  that  the  purpose  of  those 
who  advocate  a  ^  ^  Grand  Divide ' '  was  to  take  from 
every  man  that  which  he  now  has,  and  pour  it  into 
one  large  bin  and  then  share  out  to  every  man  equally. 
The  better  socialistic  thought  has  been  brought  much 
into  disrepute  by  such  silly  interpretations  and  by  such 
unfounded  charges  made  against  socialism.  We  do 
not  want  the  ** grand  divide''  remedy  as  misin- 
terpreted, neither  are  we  prepared  to  say  we  want  the 
* 'grand  divide"  remedy  as  taught  by  those  who 
originated  the  term. 


BASH  BEMEDIES.  191 

VI.— STEIKES. 
1. — Definition  and  Nature  of  Strikes. 

It  hardly  seems  necessary  to  give  a  definition  of  a 
strike.  It  is  the  refusal  of  workmen  collectively  to 
comply  with  a  demand  of  the  employer,  or  the  refusal 
to  work  when  the  employer  does  not  grant  a  given  re- 
quest of  the  workmen.  In  either  of  the  two  cases,  the 
workmen,  by  common  agreement,  walk  away  or  stay 
away  from  the  place  of  employment,  and  declare  that 
they  will  not  return  to  work  unless  their  claims  arq 
granted.  This  refusal  to  work  constitutes  a  strike. 
This  has  been  the  common  weapon  in  the  hand  of  the 
workers  in  their  slow  but  sure  advances.  In  many  re- 
spects this  method  seems  to  be  cruel  and  barbarous, 
and  it  is  sadly  true  that  many  strikes  have  been  con- 
ducted in  the  most  unjustifiable  manner. 

The  millionaire,  Eufus  W.  Weeks,  delivered  an  ad- 
dress at  the  annual  dinner  of  the  Alumni  Association 
of  the  High  School  of  Newark,  N.  J.,  in  1905.  During 
his  remarks,  he  uttered  these  words  about  strikes, 
•**Now,  what  is  the  weapon  with  which  thus  far  the 
working  class  has  been  fighting  in  this  war?  Only  that 
poor,  pathetic  weapon,  ceasing  to  work,  comically  called 
*  striking.'  Their  own  starvation  is  their  weapon, 
coupled,  of  course,  with  the  clumsy  efforts  to  enforce 
the  dictates  of  class  ethics  upon  those  weak-con- 
scienced  individuals  who  shirk  the  call  to  starvation.'* 
It  appears  that  the  workers  believe  this  to  be  the  most 
effective  means  to  get  their  rights,  at  least  they  have 
shown  their  faith  by  their  numberless  sacrifices.  They 


192 


KASH  EEMEDIES. 


have  made  their  pathetic  appeal  time  after  time,  know- 
ing that  they  were  handicapped  from  the  very 
beginning. 

2. — HisTOKY  OF  Strikes. 

The  workers  of  the  country  have  been  striking  since 
about  the  middle  of  the  Eighteenth  Century,  but  no 
record  has  been  kept  of  the  strikes  until  the  latter  part 
of  the  Nineteenth  Century.  For  the  enlightenment  of 
the  reader,  we  will  give  some  general  information  re- 
garding strikes,  gathered  from  the  United  States 
Bulletin  of  Labor. 

For  a  period  of  twenty  years,  from  1881  to  1900,  in- 
clusive, there  were  nearly  23,000  strikes  in  the  United 
States,  involving  over  6,000,000  employes.  The  aver- 
age of  each  strike  was  about  three  and  a  half  weeks, 
and  the  loss  of  wages  to  employes  was  $258,000,000. 
The  loss  to  employers  was  $128,000,000.  Of  this  large 
number  of  strikes  about  half  of  them  were  successful, 
one-third  were  total  failures,  and  the  balance  were 
partly  successful.  Some  of  these  strikes  involved  only 
a  few  hundred  men,  or  less,  while  others  involved  hun- 
dreds of  thousands  of  men  at  one  time.  Considerably 
over  one-half  of  all  these  strikes  were  in  nine  indus- 
tries:— ^building  trades;  hard  and  soft  coal;  clothing; 
tobacco,  food  stuff  preparations;  railroad;  stone  cut- 
ting, metal  and  metallic  goods,  and  bricklaying. 

3. — Cause  of  Strikes. 

We  will  mention  a  few  of  the  principal  causes  that 
have  brought  about  strikes  in  different  parts  of  our 


RASH  REMEDIES.  193 

country.     These  facts  we  have  gathered  from  many 
different  sources. 

(1)  For  increase  of  wages,  42  per  cent. 

(2)  For  reduction  of  hours,  20  per  cent. 

(3)  Against  reduction  of  wages,  3  per  cent. 

(4)  For  increase  of  wages  and  reduction  of  hours, 
71/2  per  cent. 

(5)  For  reduction  of  hours  and  against  being  com- 
pelled  to  board  with  employer,  3%  per  cent. 

(6)  For  change  of  hour  beginning  work,  1%  per 
cent. 

(7)  For  increase  of  wages  and  against  the  contract 
system,  1  per  cent. 

The  above  mentioned  are  the  seven  principal  causes 
of  strikes.  There  are  a  little  over  three  hundred  other 
causes  entering  into  all  the  minute  details.  For  some 
of  these  petty  causes,  only  25,  50  or  100  establishments 
were  involved  during  all  the  twenty  years. 

4. — The  Evils  op  Strikes. 

Aside  from  the  great  loss  of  time  and  money  on  the 
part  of  the  employes  and  employers,  there  are  other 
evils  that  must  be  taken  into  consideration  by  one  who 
wishes  to  render  an  impartial  opinion  on  the  merit  or 
demerit  of  strikes.  We  will  say  nothing  of  the  starva- 
tion and  suffering  endured,  and  the  many  sacrifices 
that  men,  women  and  children  make  during  the  bitter 
process  of  a  prolonged  strike.  It  is  quite  apparent  that 
one  of  the  principal  sufferers  during  a  strike  is  the 


194  RASH  REMEDIES. 

public,  who  are  not  always  aware  of  the  coming  trouble, 
and  who  are  not  prepared  to  meet  the  conditions  so  sud- 
denly thrust  upon  them.  In  the  anthracite  coal  strike 
of  1902,  the  suffering  was  not  limited  to  those  directly 
concerned  in  the  strike,  but  it  reached  to  nearly  all  in- 
dustries and  classes  of  people  and  revealed  an  empty 
coal  bin  in  numberless  homes,  even  with  the  approach 
of  wintry  days.  This  will  serve  as  an  example  of  many 
other  strikes,  to  show  that  parties  not  connected  with 
the  conflict  are  often  forced  to  suffer,  and  in  many  in- 
stances, this  is  the  very  purpose  that  the  strikers  are 
trying  to  reach,  so  as  to  enlist  the  sympathy  of  outside 
parties. 

Another  evil  of  strikes  is  the  rioting  and  lawlessness 
that  is  often  indulged  in  at  these  times.  Labor  leaders 
with  voice  and  pen  seem  to  deprecate  this  kind  of  vio- 
lence, claiming  that  the  mob  is  generally  responsible 
for  these  revolutionary  acts.  It  has  been  shown,  how- 
ever, in  a  number  of  instances,  that  the  strikers  have 
also  manifested  their  sympathy  and  even  given  their 
help  to  incite  disturbance  and  rash  demonstrations.  No 
matter  who  is  to  blame,  the  fact  remains  that  these  un- 
fortunate upheavels  usually  come  during  the  process  of 
a  strike,  and  they  are  one  of  the  evils  connected  with  it. 

Another  evil  of  the  strike  is  the  lawless  spirit  that  it 
creates  and  fosters  in  the  breasts  of  the  young  and  old 
workers.  We  will  not  dwell  upon  this  aspect  of  the 
case,  but  will  leave  it  to  the  moral  philospher. 

Looking  at  the  one  side  alone,  it  would  be  natural  to 
condemn  strikes,  and  a  number  of  writers  have  done  so, 
— some  in  a  very  caustic  manner,  others  with  more 
conservatism.  Before  reaching  a  final  decision,  we 
miist  consider  the  other  side  of  the  question 


'eash  remedies.  195 

5. — The  Benefits  op  Strikes. 

(1)  They  have  put  a  check  on  the  crushing  greed 
of  employers. 

(2)  They  have  opened  the  eyes  of  workmen  to  see 
their  own  power  by  combination. 

(3)  Wages  have  been  increased. 

The  good  showing  of  our  statistics  in  favor  of  the 
workingman  for  the  past  one  hundred  years  is  largely 
due  to  the  strike.  John  Mitchell,  in  his  book  entitled, 
*' Organized  Labor, '^  estimates  that  one  result  of  the 
coal  strike  of  1902  was  over  $7,000,000  increase  of 
wages  to  the  anthracite  mine  workers.  This  is  only 
one  instance  of  hundreds  that  might- be  given  to  prove 
this  point. 

(4)  Hours  of  labor  have  been  lessened. 

This  has  been  a  subject  that  has  received  much  atten- 
tion by  reformers  and  by  workers.  The  effort  to  re- 
duce the  number  of  working  hours  for  a  day's  work  has 
been  long  and  severe,  and  from  the  very  beginning, 
victories  have  been  won.  Some  have  not  yet  forgotten 
how  the  hundreds  of  street-car  employes  in  Baltimore 
had  their  hours  of  labor  reduced  from  seventeen  to 
twelve  hours  after  a  determined  strike  of  a  few  days. 
Speeches  were  made  and  sermons  were  preached,  and 
yet  all  moral  efforts  seemed  to  fail,  but  when  the  strike 
came,  that  seemed  to  strike  the  street-car  magnates 
hard.  It  has  come  to  be  common  history  how  the  brick- 
layers and  other  tradesmen  have  cut  their  day's  work 
down  to  eight  hours  and  even  less,  as  an  outcome  of 
their  persistent  efforts.  Eeeent  history  has  been  full  of 


196 


RASH  REMEDIES. 


events  indicating  how  all  classes  of  workmen  are 
struggling  to  make  shorter  the  length  of  a  day 's  work. 
After  a  careful  survey  of  the  whole  question,  one 
does  not  feel  so  antagonistic  to  strikes  as  before.  We 
feel  like  accepting  the  lesser  of  two  evils,  and  saying 
that  more  good  has  come  to  workingmen  through  the 
one  evil  of  strikes  than  would  have  come  to  them 
through  the  other  evil  of  unchecked  capitalistic  op- 
pression; that  is  putting  the  whole  question  in  a  nut- 
shell. It  might  have  been  possible  to  adopt  measures 
fifty  or  one  hundred  years  ago  that  would  have  proved 
more  fruitful  than  the  results  that  have  come  to  us 
through  the  long  age  of  strikes ;  but  such  a  discussion 
amounts  to  little  now;  the  time  is  past,  events  have 
gone  into  history,  and  if  we  can  build  a  more  blessed 
future  on  the  wearisome  struggles  of  the  past,  we 
will  do  well.  We  expect  to  show  in  this  book  a  better 
method  for  workingmen  and  all  classes  to  adopt  than 
strikes. 


VIL— SYMPATHETIC  STEIKES. 

By  the  term  ^'sympathetic  strikes,*^  we  mean  the 
striking  of  certain  classes  of  workmen  who  go 
out  not  because  of  any  grievance  of  their  own 
against  their  employers,  but  to  express  their 
sympathy  for  some  other  class  of  workmen  with  whom 
they  are  associated.  Distinctly  considered  this  kind 
of  strikes  is  unreasonable  and  barbarous.  During 
such  strikes,  the  worst  form  of  coercion  is  often  used, 
and  the  most  un-American  principles  are  practiced; 
and  while  the  sympathetic  strike  has  often  helped  the 


BASH  REMEDIES.  197 

local  strike,  it  has  also  done  more  to  prejudice  the 
public  against  the  strikers  than  anything  else.  Sev- 
eral writers  have  referred  to  the  Chicago  Strike  of 
1894.  It  happened  that  the  workmen  in  the  Pullman 
car  factories  struck  for  higher  wages.  It  was  at  a  time 
when  the  fever  of  national  labor  organization  was  at  a 
high  heat ;  consequently  the  national  strike  commission 
gave  their  approval  to  the  local  strike,  and  as  a  result 
the  officers  of  the  American  Railway  Union  ordered 
its  members  to  strike  on  all  railroads  that  refuses  at 
once  to  discontinue  the  use  of  Pullman  cars.  These 
railroads  were  under  contract  to  use  said  cars,  and  by 
laying  them  aside,  would  make  themselves  liable  to 
heavy  damages,  as  well  as  breach  of  contract.  This 
sympathetic  strike  caused  wide-spread  trouble  for  a 
while ;  it  tied  up  one  railroad  after  another ;  it  caused 
the  death  of  men,  women  and  children,  and  the  holding 
of  live  stock  enroute  on  freight  cars;  and,  in  truth, 
there  was  an  insurrection  that  became  so  serious,  thai; 
federal  troops  were  called  to  check  the  disorder.  Pub- 
lic feeling  became  very  intense  against  the  strikers, 
and  many  of  the  strikers  refused  to  obey  the  order 
of  the  union;  at  least  one  of  the  principal  leaders, 
Eugene  V.  Debs,  in  commenting  on  the  strike  after- 
ward, in  a  great  meeting  at  Chicago,  said,  **  Workmen 
can  gain  nothing  by  strikes,  but  should  anchor  their 
hopes  to  the  ballot  box.*' 

Since  Debs  made  this  remark,  the  sentiment  has 
been  growing  very  rapidly  that  the  cause  of  Labor 
will  never  rightly  reach  its  end  under  the  present  sys- 
tem of  warfare ;  and  yet  it  is  argued  that  it  would  not 
be  proper  to  discontinue  the  present  system  until 
iomething  better  takes  its  place;  and  so,  for  that  rea- 


198  RASH  REMEDIES. 

son  we  may  expect  to  hear  of  strikes,  sympathetic 
strikes  and  all  similar  types  of  warfare,  until  the  day 
of  better  things  is  upon  us.  Till  then  let  us  not  be  too 
impatient  or  criticise  too  severely  the  painful  experi- 
ences that  come  with  all  these  forms  of  guerilla 
warfare. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 


We  have  sliown  in  a  previous  chapter  that  partiality 
has  been  shown  to  the  rich  in  the  making  and  execu- 
tion of  laws.  That  is  a  fact  commonly  admitted  by 
the  general  mass  of  people;  and  yet,  with  all  of  this 
discrimination  against  Labor,  much  has  been  accom- 
plished by  legal  measures  for  the  uplifting  of  the  gen- 
eral class  of  workers. 


I.— A  GLIMPSE  OF  ONE  HUNDRED  YEARS 

AGO. 

The  growth  of  sentiment  in  favor  of  Labor  for  the 
past  one  hundred  years  surpasses  that  of  centuries 

199 


200       "  LEGISLATIVE    KEMEDIES. 

previous  to  this  time.  A  little  over  a  century  ago 
when  the  grasping  hand  of  greed  was  seen  operating 
against  the  welfare  of  the  masses  of  poor  laboring 
men,  women  and  children,  the  employer  cared  little 
for  the  health  or  comfort  of  his  employes;  in  fact  he 
did  nothing  more  than  the  bare  law  of  necessity  de- 
manded. He  was  not  aiming  to  be  a  philanthropist, 
but  was  grasping  after  the  almighty  dollar;  and  con- 
sequently, hundreds  and  thousands  of  lives  were  sac- 
rificed under  the  inhuman  conditions  imposed  upon  the 
employes.  Strong  children  were  broken  down  before 
they  reached  maturity,  and  anxious  fathers  were  com- 
pelled to  lay  health,  and  often  life  itself,  upon  the  altar 
of  family  devotion. 

One  who  studies  the  history  of  that  time  is  deeply 
impressed  with  the  manner  in  which  the  captains  of 
industry  were  ruling  the  laboring  masses.  Whenever 
a  few  workers  attempted  to  combine  for  mutual  in- 
terest, they  were  quickly  silenced  either  by  threat  or 
by  a  direct  attack  from  the  officers  of  the  law.  The 
men  of  money  could  combine  as  much  as  they  desired, 
but  the  laboring  men  were  handicapped  by  laws  that 
had  been  passed  against  them.  Another  type  of  mani- 
fest injustice  was  the  laws  regarding  apprentices, 
and  some  of  the  most  inhuman  results  followed  in 
the  application  of  these  apprenticeship  laws.  It  was 
clearly  seen  that  the  capitalistic  class  and  the  public 
officers  were  linked  together  in  their  interests  as  if 
they  were  twin  brothers,  and  the  worst  of  all  was  that 
they  could  legally  and  jointly  fix  the  wage  scale,  regu- 
late the  work,  and  dictate  their  terms  to  the  workers. 
These  conditions  developed  a  form  of  slavery  that  was 
more  cruel  in  its  aspects  than  the  negro  slavery  of  the 


LEGISLATIVE    KEMEDIES.  201 

United  States.  It  is  impossible  in  a  brief  work  like 
this  to  give  details  of  this  black  picture.  Those  who 
wish  to  know  more  about  it  must  read  the  economio 
history  of  that  period. 


II.— RECENT  LAWS  IN  FAVOR  OF  LABOR. 

What  has  brought  about  the  great  change  in  the 
short  space  of  less  than  one  century?  It  was  the  sud- 
den rise  of  the  proletarian  in  demand  of  his  rights. 
When  we  consider  that  the  army  of  Labor  has  had 
no  money  to  spend  to  buy  legislation,  it  is  indeed 
gratifying  that  so  much  has  been  accomplished  in 
favor  of  the  worker.  Notwithstanding  the  opposition 
against  Labor,  the  tide  has  been  rising  in  its  favor  by 
reason  of  the  active  measures  pursued  by  the  army 
of  workers  themselves. 

Looking  over  the  latter  half  of  the  Nineteenth  Cen- 
tury and  the  early  part  of  the  Twentieth,  we  are  grati- 
fied to  see  the  legal  enactments  in  favor  of  the  toiling 
masses  that  have  brightened  our  history.  All  praise 
to  certain  great  men  who  espoused  the  cause  of  Labor, 
and  to  the  vigorous  campaigns  of  organized  Labor. 
We  will  enumerate  a  few  things  that  have  been  accom- 
plished : — 

1. — Laws  Against  Sweatshops. 

These  laws  have  been  the  natural  outgrowth  of  an 
awakened  public,  which,  having  the  facts  brought  to 
its  attention,  arose  in  indignation  and  demanded  a  re- 
form.   The  unfortunate  feature  is  that  there  is  not  a 


202  LEGISLATIVE    REMEDIES. 

strict  obedience  to  the  laws  we  have.  The  competitive 
system  under  which  we  are  living  urges  men  to  evade 
such  laws  in  every  possible  way.  Men  will  do  any- 
thing for  money;  but  nevertheless,  the  evils  of  sweat- 
shops have  been  materially  decreased  under  the  legis- 
lation of  the  past  twenty  years. 

2. — Sanitary  Laws  Have  Been  Enacted  Applicable 
TO  Factories  and  Workshops. 

These  laws  have  demanded  cleaner  rooms  with  bet- 
ter ventilation,  and  with  more  freedom  of  motion  by 
employes;  in  truth,  the  laws  have  called  for  almost 
every  possible  improvement  that  could  be  imagined 
for  the  benefit  of  the  health  of  employes. 

3. — ^Laws  Have  Been  Passed  Demanding 

Contrivances  for  the  Eemqval  of 

Dust  and  Noxious  Vapors. 

This  has  been  a  very  merciful  line  of  legislation; 
and,  if  we  were  to  review  the  conditions  that  made  the 
enactment  of  such  laws  necessary,  we  would  unfold 
a  tale  of  horror  and  filth  that  would  scarcely  be  be- 
lieved by  the  more  elite  members  of  society,  who  have 
never  endured  the  hardships  of  ten-hour-a-day  labor. 

4. — Laws  Have  Been  Enacted  for  the  Safety  op 
Employes. 

It  is  a  well  known  fact  that  thousands  of  workers' 
lives  were  lost  annually  while  engaged  at  their  regular 


LEGISLATIVE   EEMEDIES.  203 

employment.  Much  of  this  loss  could  not  have  been 
avoided,  but  the  greater  part  of  it  was  due  to  the  lack 
of  prevention  on  the  part  of  the  employing  class.  Belt- 
ings were  cheaply  constructed,  elevators  were  not 
properly  inspected,  machinery  was  not  duly  protected, 
and  in  numberless  other  ways  workers  were  often  sub- 
jected to  the  greatest  hazards.  Under  the  laws  that 
have  been  enacted  much  life  has  been  saved,  but  we 
have  not  yet  seen  the  best  fruits  of  this  agitation. 


5. — Laws  Against  Child-Labor. 

These  laws  were  a  severe  blow  to  the  cheap  con- 
tractor, who  could  save  much  money  by  the  use  of 
children.  Now  the  laws  demand  that,  wherever  pos- 
sible, the  child  shall  receive  the  benefit  of  an  educa- 
tion, and  even  this  education  is  made  compulsory,  and 
the  benefits  to  society  accruing  from  these  laws  can- 
not be  estimated. 


6. — Laws  That  Have  Eeduced  the  Length  of  a  Day's 
Work  to  Eight  Hours. 

We  have  spoken  concerning  this  matter  at  some 
length  in  another  chapter,  and  will,  therefore,  add  no 
comment  at  this  place. 

The  preceding  six  kinds  of  legislation  are  only  a 
small  part  of  what  has  been  enacted  in  behalf  of  the 
laboring  classes.  There  are  many  other  laws  of  the 
same  general  import.    Looking  at  it  from  one  stand- 


204  LEGISLATIVE    REMEDIES. 

point  it  appears  as  if  much  has  already  been  done  for 
Labor;  but,  in  reality,  it  is  only  a  tithe  toward  atone- 
ment for  past  crimes,  and  as  a  promise  of  redemp- 
tion from  the  hard  conditions  that  are  still  being  im- 
posed on  Labor. 


in.— LEGAL  ENACTMENTS  AGAINST 
MONOPOLY. 

We  have  outlined  in  a  former  chapter  the  wide- 
spread enactment  of  laws  against  Monopoly  at  the 
close  of  the  Nineteenth  Century  and  the  beginning  of 
the  Twentieth.  We  need  not  repeat  these  instances  at 
this  place,  except  the  one  of  national  significance 
known  as  the  Sherman  Anti-Trust  Law;  this  was 
passed  to  prohibit  combinations  in  restraint  of  trade. 
Its  aim  was  to  cripple  the  power  of  the  Trusts,  and 
prevent  them  from  gaining  absolute  control  of  every- 
thing. 

Other  bills  were  enacted  such  as  the  Elkins  Act 
which  was  to  facilitate  the  work  of  the  Interstate  Com- 
merce Commission  in  correcting  the  illegal  rebates  on 
freight  rates.  It  is  supposed  that  this  act  was  passed 
with  sinister  motives,  for  it  seems  to  have  done  more 
to  help  corporations  to  dodge  preceding  laws  than 
anything  else.  This  shows  how  difficult  it  is  to  deal 
with  the  great  corporations.  We  could  easily  give  a 
list  of  many  other  laws  that  have  been  passed  in  the 
last  decade,  but  they  will  serve  no  purpose  within  the 
chief  idea  of  this  chapter. 


LEGISLATIVE  REMEDIES.  205 

IV.— LEGISLATION  CONSIDEEED  AS 
A  EEMEDY. 

There  are  those  who  believe  that  by  legislation  all 
the  evils  of  Trusts  and  Monopolies  will  finally  be  abol- 
ished, for  some  able  thinkers  have  said  that  our  law- 
making bodies  will  cure  all  the  ills  of  society.  Very 
few  persons,  however,  are  willing  to  accept  this 
theory,  inasmuch  as  Monopoly  owns  the  money  of  the 
earth,  and  will  always  be  able  to  swing  legislation  in 
its  favor. 

We  are  willing  to  share  the  opinion  of  others  that 
much  effectual  good  can  be  accomplished  and  will  be 
accomplished  by  means  of  legal  enactments ;  but,  as  a 
final  remedy  for  the  evils  of  Monopoly,  it  will  amount 
to  very  little.  In  saying  this  we  refer  to  the  continual 
legislation  under  our  present  economic  system  with 
Monopoly  at  the  head,  and  the  legislature  and  senate 
imder  its  control. 

Nothing  would  please  the  kings  of  corporations 
more  than  if  the  mass  of  workingmen  would  cease  all 
their  agitations,  and  sit  down  and  wait  for  acts  of 
legislation  to  come  their  way.  The  workers  have 
learned  enough  not  to  allow  themselves  to  be  deceived 
by  any  such  suggestion,  for  they  know  that  it  is  a 
common  trick.  They  have  been  deceived  so  often  that 
they  would  almost  be  surprised  if  the  deception  were 
stopped.  The  rise  of  the  army  of  Labor  cannot  be 
checked  by  mere  promises ;  they  are  moving  with  irre- 
sistible force,  and  they  have  but  little  faith  in  law- 
makers. They  will  not  be  satisfied  until  they  begin 
13. 


206  LEGISLATIVE   REMEDIES. 

to  make  laws  for  themselves ;  and  then,  perhaps,  they 
will  go  to  the  other  extreme  for  awhile,  and  give  the 
laboring  man  nearly  all  the  law  and  the  capitalist 
scarcely  any.  Extreme  measures  usually  follow  ex- 
treme conditions,  and  the  happy  mean  is  reached  after 
the  suffering  at  each  extreme  has  been  felt. 

Let  those  who  tell  us  that  civil  law  will  be  a  suffi- 
cient remedy,  remember  that  the  future  is  mirrored 
in  the  past.  We  may  know  what  to  expect  by  what 
has  happened ;  and  when  the  Giant  Labor  stands  at  the 
door  of  legislation  and  knocks,  the  door  will  be  opened 
for  him  to  present  his  request,  and  the  door-keeper 
will  be  likely  to  say  to  the  Giant,  ^^We  will  carefully 
take  your  grievances  into  consideration,  and  if  any- 
thing can  be  done  for  you  we  shall  be  glad  to  do  it. 
Until  then,  dear  fellow,  be  patient;  go  to  your  tasks 
and  work  contentedly."  When  the  Giant  has  gone, 
these  legislators  can  wink  at  each  other  as  much  as 
they  please  and  about  the  only  thing  that  they  will 
do  for  Labor,  will  be  to  grant  enough  of  his  requests 
to  keep  the  Giant  quiet. 

In  the  former  chapter  we  demonstrated  that  rash 
remedies  would  never  win  the  day  for  Labor,  and  so 
we  would  say  here  that  legislation  of  itself  will  bo 
ineffective  in  accomplishing  the  great  work  of  social 
reform,  and  we  must  look  to  some  other  source  as  a 
means  of  bringing  Labor  into  the  honored  recognition 
that  it  deserves. 

The  real  laws  that  will  bless  and  protect  the  work- 
ing class  of  people  have  not  yet  been  passed,  but  they 
will  prevail  in  that  happier  age  to  come,  when  there 
will  be  no  incentive  to  grafting  and  no  motive  to  par- 
tiality in  legislation.    Why  should  not  the  world  have 


LEGISLATIVE    REMEDIES.  207 

its  best  government  toward  the  end  of  its  history? 
Why  should  not  the  errors  and  mistakes  of  all  the 
ages  past  assist  in  the  forming  of  a  government  of 
the  people,  for  the  people  and  by  the  people,  instead 
of,  of  the  Trusts,  for  the  Trusts  and  by  the  Trusts, 
such  as  we  are  having  now?  Later  in  this  book  we 
shall  discuss  the  government  which  will  prevail  in 
our  country  as  soon  as  the  people  are  awakened  to 
see  the  power  that  is  sleeping  in  their  ballots. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 


mjd^ 


I.— PROFIT-SHAEINa. 

The  system  of  profit-sharing  is  one  of  the  measures 
by  which  the  employer  has  endeavored  to  elevate  the 
standard  of  the  employee  and  make  him  in  an  indirect 
sense,  a  partner  in  his  business.  Under  this  plan,  the 
worker  receives  a  fi:xed  wage  throughout  the  year,  and 
when  inventory  is  taken,  a  certain  per  cent,  of  the  net 
profits  of  the  business  is  divided  among  the  employees, 
according  to  some  ratio  fixed  by  the  employer.  In 
1886,  Hon.  Carrol  D.  Wright,  in  his  first  annual  report 
as  United  States  Commissioner  of  Labor,  gave  sta- 
tistics on  this  subject,  and  many  students  of  political 
economy  were  surprised  to  learn  that  there  were  so 
many  employers  conducting  their  business  under  the 
profit-sharing  plan. 

208 


MUTUAL  AGREEMENT  REMEDIES.  209 

Since  the  dawn  of  the  Twentieth  Century  a  large 
number  of  the  smaller  firms  and  some  of  the  large 
firms  have  been  experimenting  with  the  profit-sharing 
plan.  In  some  instances  the  motive  was  philan- 
thropic, and  in  others  it  was  selfish.  There  are  shrewd 
business  men  who  believe  that  more  work  will  be  done 
by  their  employees  if  they  can  be  interested  more  in  the 
business  of  the  employer.  Indeed  it  has  been  noticed 
that,  under  the  profit-sharing  system,  workers  have 
been  more  careful  in  their  labor,  more  punctual  in 
their  duties,  more  cheerful  in  performing  their  tasks, 
and  more  economical  in  everything  that  pertains  to 
their  employment. 

The  reason  for  all  this  is  quite  apparent.  Nothing 
will  interest  a  person  more  than  if  he  feels  that  he  is 
a  partner  in  the  concern  for  which  he  works,  be  his 
interest  therein  ever  so  small. 

It  seems  strange  that  profit-sharing  should  be  op- 
posed by  the  great  majority  of  large  business  men, 
and  also  by  the  labor  unions.  We  will  not  here  dis- 
cuss the  reason  why  this  plan  does  not  meet  with  more 
favor  amongst  the  general  class  of  employers,  but  we 
will  briefly  consider  why  organized  Labor  is  not  more 
in  favor  of  profit-sharing  than  it  is.  Suppose  for  a 
moment  that  profit-sharing  would  become  general.  It 
would  then  be  very  natural  for  wages  to  be  adjusted 
accordingly.  If  any  Monopoly  found  that  its  profits 
were  too  small,  it  could  easily  reduce  the  wage  rate  and 
permit  the  percentage  of  profits  to  remain  the  same; 
or,  it  could  continue  the  wage  rate  and  deceive  the  em- 
ployees in  some  manner,  so  as  to  rob  them  of  some  of 
the  share  of  their  profits.  There  is  always  a  way,  un- 
der private  ownership,  to  defraud  the  army  of  workers. 


210  MUTUAL  AGREEMENT  REMEDIES. 

and  to  rob  them  of  what  is  their  rightful  share.  Labor 
unions  are  well  aware  of  these  facts,  and  they  are  also 
convinced  that,  if  the  army  of  workers  could  be  in- 
duced to  settle  down  in  contentment,  it  would  only  be 
a  short  time  until  profit-sharing  would  also  come  to 
an  end,  and  the  wage  earners  would  be  back  again  in 
the  same  old  grinding,  competitive  struggle  for 
existence. 

According  to  Josiah  Strong  in  his  ^'Social 
Progress  ^^  of  1905,  there  are  ^*some  three  hundred 
firms  in  the  United  States,  Great  Britain  and  France 
that  are  practicing  this  system  to-day.  Among  the 
most  conspicuous  cases  are  the  Maison  Leclaire,  the 
Maison  Baille-LeMaire  and  the  Bon  Marche  in  Paris ; 
the  South  Metropolitan  Gas  Company  in  London;  the 
Proctor  and  Gamble  Soap  Works  at  Cincinnati,  Ohio, 
and  the  Brown  Mills  at  Tiverton,  E.  I. ' ' 

It  is  also  said  that  the  Pillsburys  of  Minneapolis 
have  followed  the  principle  of  profit-sharing  for  years, 
and  when  they  sold  their  interest  to  an  English  syndi- 
cate, one  point  of  the  agreement  was  that  the  policy  of 
profit-sharing  should  continue. 

This  system  of  profit-sharing,  which  is  a  little  over 
sixty  years  of  age,  will  no  doubt  survive  until  the 
larger  system  of  product-sharing  will  take  its  place. 
Whether  it  remains  or  not,  one  thing  is  certain,  profit- 
sharing  will  never  solve  the  labor  question.  It  is  noth- 
ing more  than  sewing  a  patch  of  good  quality  on  an 
old,  rotten  garment.  The  most  beautiful  thing  about 
the  whole  system  is  the  spirit  of  philanthropy  that  has 
been  manifested  by  certain  firms  which  have  adopted 
this  plan.  This  admirable  spirit  is  like  an  oasis  in  the 
barren  desert  of  greed  and  graft. 


MUTUAL  AOEEEMENl:  KEMEDIES.  211 

II.— SLIDING  SCALE. 

This  is  a  remedial  proposition  among  iron  and  steel 
workers.  It  has  been  instituted  by  the  Amalgamated 
Association  of  Iron  and  Steel  Workers,  chiefly  in 
Pennsylvania,  and  it  has  already  accomplished  consid- 
erable in  keeping  peace. 

The  sliding  scale  means  that  the  amount  of  wages 
shall  vary  as  the  selling  price  of  the  product  rises  or 
falls.  This  is  only  a  kind  of  profit-sharing  managed 
in  a  different  way.  It  is  supposed  that,  by  the  sliding 
scale,  the  laborer  will  share  relatively  in  the  pros- 
perity of  the  capitalist  or  the  employer.  This  is  also 
one  of  the  partial  measures,  and,  so  far  as  being  a 
remedy  for  existing  social  ills,  it  is  only  like  cutting 
the  branches  of  the  tree  instead  of  tearing  the  tree  up 
by  its  roots;  but  we  must  not  despise  profit-sharing 
for  this  reason,  inasmuch  as  it  has  cut  off  some 
branches  that  have  cast  dark  shadows  into  the  hearts 
of  the  workingmen.  The  better  way  with  all  these 
partial  reform  measures  is  to  hail  them  with  delight, 
and  look  upon  them  as  mere  stepping  stones  to  the 
great  and  final  movement  against  Monopoly. 

III.— PIECE-WOEK. 

This  is  a  modem  custom  and  is  a  substitute  for  the 
wage  system.  Piece-work  is  a  species  of  contract 
work,  for  in  many  respects  it  is  similar  to  it.  The  la- 
borer is  not  hired  for  a  specified  wage,  but  receives 
his  pay  according  to  the  amount  of  work  he  does. 
Miners  are  often  paid  by  the  number  of  cars  they  load 


212  MUTUAL  AGREEMENT  RT5MEDIES. 

a  day,  or  by  the  yard  in  driving  a  tunnel.  In  many 
of  the  factories  piece-work  is  the  prevailing  system, 
and  while  a  few  are  enabled  to  earn  extraordinary 
wages,  the  great  bulk  do  not  earn  as  much  as  they 
would  receive  by  regular  wages.  This  is  due  to  the 
^^squeezmg,"  by  wnich  more  and  more  work  is  ex- 
pected for  the  same  amount  of  money  until  the  limit 
is  reached.  There  are  also  certain  tradesmen  who  re 
ceive  large  wages  under  this  system ;  but,  take  it  all  in 
all,  it  has  done  but  little  to  settle  the  contention  be- 
tween Capital  and  Labor,  and  as  a  reform  measure 
is  not  worthy  of  consideration. 

IV.— SENDING  UNEMPLOYED  TO  FARMS. 

This  remedy  is  offered  by  certain  people,  not  as  a 
complete  cure  for  our  present  ills,  but  as  a  relief  mea- 
sure in  times  of  distress.  There  has  certainly  been 
very  much  good  accomplished  in  hard  times  by  form- 
ing colonies  from  the  crowded  districts  of  the  cities, 
and  sending  them  into  the  farming  regions  where  they 
get  work  at  profitable  employment.  Some  of  these 
workers  are  sent  out  temporarily;  others  are  formed 
or  form  themselves  into  colonies  with  the  purpose  of 
establishing  permanent  homes.  Far-reaching  good 
has  been  accomplished  in  both  ways ;  but,  like  all  other 
similar  plans,  it  is  not  corrective,  and  can  be  termed 
as  nothing  more  than  a  relief  measure.  The  fact  that 
herds  of  workers  are  unable  to  find  employment  at 
certain  times,  and  that  they  must  go  begging  for  work, 
and  to  be  compelled  to  go  into  a  strange  country  to 
find  it,  is  one  more  bitter  comment  on  the  cruelty  of 
our  heartless  and  competitive  Social  System. 


MUTUAL  AGREEMENT  REMEDIES.  213 

Looking  at  the  other  side  of  the  question,  it  can  be 
said  that  these  schemes  of  sending  the  unemployed 
to  farms,  does  not  meet  with  favor  amongst  many 
groups  of  idle  workers.  Many  who  are  out  of  employ- 
ment prefer  to  suffer  any  privation  rather  than  enter 
upon  a  rural  life.  Experience  has  shown,  however,  that 
colonies  from  the  cities  settling  in  the  country  readily 
adapt  themselves  to  it,  and  find  it  a  pleasant  and 
healthful  change.  The  colonizing  schemes  in  England 
and  in  America  have,  in  many  instances  been  most 
successful.  Looking  at  the  whole  subject  in  its  best 
aspect,  nothing  more  can  be  said  than  that  it  has  been 
helpful  to  a  small  per  cent,  of  our  needy  people.  To 
what  extent  it  might  be  helpful  to  many  thousands 
more,  is  a  matter  of  conjecture  upon  which  coming 
years  will  cast  their  light. 

v.— AEBITRATION. 

This  is  one  of  the  remedies  that  has  been  proposed 
to  settle  all  Social  ills.  It  has  been  tested  for  a  long 
period  of  time  and  it  appears  that  much  effectual 
good  has  been  accomplished  by  this  agency,  but  we 
cannot  depend  upon  it  to  destroy  the  cruelties  of  our 
present  competitive  system.  It  is  a  good  medicine  to 
apply  in  case  of  sickness,  and  its  healing  qualities  are 
to  be  recommended  providing  the  patient  will  follow 
instructions.  In  the  United  States  many  boards  of 
arbitration  have  been  formed  under  the  sanction  of 
the  local  or  general  government.  It  is  also  well  known 
that  the  United  States  Government  has  recognized  the 
efficiency  of  industrial  as  well  as  international  arbi- 
tration. 


214  MUTUAL  AGREEMENT  EEMEDIES. 

Arbitration  is  of  two  kinds,  voluntary  and  compul- 
sory, and  either  one  is  far  from  being  perfect  in  many 
instances.  This  would  be  no  reason  why  we  should 
discourage  all  arbitration,  for  we  need  all  such  agen- 
cies that  we  can  possibly  get ;  and,  of  the  entire  class, 
arbitration  is  one  of  the  most  effective  means  of 
settling  disputes  between  Capital  and  Labor. 

Under  this  subject  we  will  call  attention  to  the  fact 
that  the  Mundella  system  of  arbitration  has  been  in 
vogue  in  England,  and  has  been  effective  of  much 
good.  Another  system  operating  in  the  same  country 
has  been  termed  the  Kettle  system.  These  have  been 
two  rival  systems,  and  their  history  is  interesting  and 
profitable.  We  must  also  class  under  the  head  of 
Arbitration,  the  Citizens  Industrial  Association  of 
America,  organized  in  1903. 

France  has  given  the  best  example  of  arbitration 
methods.  The  number  of  differences  that  are  an- 
nually adjusted  range  from  twenty-five  to  fifty  thou- 
sand. This  is  indeed  a  marvelous  record,  and  is  due 
to  the  fact  that  courts  of  arbitration  are  established 
by  law.  In  this  respect,  France  has  distanced  the 
United  States;  for,  while  we  are  having  strikes  and 
lockouts  in  super-abundance,  they  are  having  an 
abundance  of  cases  settled  by  arbitration.  Yet,  with 
all  the  good  done  in  France,  it  is  clearly  proved  that 
arbitration  is  not  to  be  relied  upon  for  securing  per- 
manent peace. 

We  need  an  economic  system  that  will  prevent  the 

cause  of  trouble  as  well  as  one  that  will  correct  the 

trouble  when  it  has  arisen.     Thus  we  must  look  to 

some  other  agency  to  give  us  a  permanent  basis  of 

peace,  and  settle  the  disturbances  that  have  arisen 


MUTUAL  AGREEMENT  REMEDIES.  216 

between  the  hostile  forces  of  Capital  and  Labor.  We 
must  not  minimize  the  splendid  work  that  has  been 
done  through  arbitration.  It  has  pulled  the  mask 
from  the  face  of  Capitalism  and  thereby  revealed 
more  clearly  the  nature  of  the  monster  of  Monopoly, 
and  the  injustice  which  the  workers  were  suffering. 
The  testimonies  that  have  been  given  at  the  arbitra- 
tion hearings  have  done  more  to  advertise  the  evils 
of  our  present  competitive  system  than  one  can 
imagine,  and  for  this  service  we  should  ever  offer 
our  thanksgiving  for  the  hand  of  God  moving  in 
history. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 


ii9V9SEr>  KNEDIES 


mlF^LP  'ifDUJTRf/ILi^ffogj^S 


I.— CHRISTIANIZATION  OF  CAPITAL. 

For  many  ages  past  it  has  been  preached  from 
the  pulpit  and  delivered  from  the  platform  that 
the  only  safe  remedy  for  present  evils  would  be 
to  Christianize  the  Capitalist.  This  sounds  well 
and  seems  reasonable,  but  it  would  no  doubt 
be  more  difficult  to  Christianize  Capital  than  it 
would  be  to  Christianize  the  laboring  masses.  Dr. 
Washington  Gladden  in  his  **  Applied  Christianity, ' ' 
declares  that  '*the  reform  needed  is  not  the  de- 
struction, but  the  Christianizing  of  the  present 
order.''  This  good-minded  divine  was  aiming  at 
a  great  truth  when  he  said  this,  but  to  tell  how 
Capital  can  be  Christianized  is  a  harder  task  than  to 

216 


PEOPOSED    REMEDIES.  217 

explain  how  the  laboring  masses  can  be  elevated  to 
their  rightful  plane. 

It  would  have  been  better  if  Dr.  Gladden  had  advo- 
cated the  conversion  of  the  present  order  of  eco- 
nomics. It  has  been  found  to  be  impossible  to  make 
the  present  wrongs  right  under  the  reign  of  private 
capital,  free  competition  and  the  free  contract  and 
wage  system.  Let  this  present  economic  order  be 
converted  or  transformed  into  a  new  order,  and  we 
will  make  it  more  possible  for  the  exercise  of  Chris- 
tian principles  among  those  who  live.  There  are  many- 
corporations  claimiQg  that  they  are  now  working  in  ac- 
cordance with  Christian  principles;  certain  monopo- 
lists declare  that  they  are  doing  all  for  their  men  that 
is  possible,  paying  them  higher  wages  than  the  average, 
and  that  they  are  dealing  with  the  public  in  a  fair  and 
equitable  manner.  This  may  be  true  and  it  may  not 
be  true,  who  is  to  be  the  judge? 

We  might  as  well  say  that  if  you  run  a  saloon  in  a 
Christian-like  manner,  it  will  do  harm  to  no  one.  Sup- 
pose we  try  the  experiment.  First,  let  us  take  the 
Bishop  Potter  plan,  and  we  find  that  whiskey,  beer,  or 
any  other  intoxicant  sold  in  the  name  of  Christianity 
has  the  same  effect  upon  the  individual  as  if  it  were 
sold  in  the  name  of  the  Devil.  Now,  if  we  were  to  run 
a  saloon  upon  Christian  principles,  we  would,  first  of 
all,  make  a  radical  change.  We  would  take  out  all  the 
beverages  that  intoxicate,  and  we  would  sell  only  such 
as  might  be  beneficial  and  healthful  to  the  individual. 
This,  of  course,  would  mean  an  entire  change,  and  the 
idea  of  the  place  being  a  saloon  would  no  longer  exist. 

We  do  not  wish  to  ridicule  the  effort  on  the  part  of 
large  business  men  to  run  their  business  in  a  Chris- 


218  PROPOSED    REMEDIES. 

tian-like  manner;  we  have  only  words  of  commenda- 
tion and  none  of  censure  to  offer  to  such  men ;  but  we 
wish  to  have  it  clearly  understood  that  all  such  efforts 
combined,  up  to  this  date,  have  given  no  promise  of 
the  final  redemption  of  the  laboring  masses.  We 
speak  with  positiveness  because  we  know  something 
of  the  prejudice  that  has  been  awakened  in  the  general 
mass  of  workers.  Men  of  large  corporations,  who  indi- 
vidually profess  to  be  Christians,  have  continued  their 
grinding  processes  and  their  unjust  exploitation  of 
Labor  in  the  name  of  Christianity;  and  if  good  has 
been  done  in  one  quarter  by  a  thoroughly  consistent 
man,  harm  has  been  done  in  another  quarter  by  the 
man  who  practices  all  manner  of  polite  robberies  in  the 
name  of  Christianity.  The  whole  system  of  Capital- 
ism, as  now  in  power,  is  rotten.  Its  heart  is  unclean 
and  its  head  impure ;  it  needs  a  thorough  regeneration ; 
its  body  and  soul  needs  Christianizing  which,  according 
to  our  previous  language,  means  an  inward  change  of 
the  whole  system,  so  that  afterward  it  could  be  said 
in  the  language  of  Scripture,  ^^Old  things  are  passed 
away;  behold,  all  things  are  become  new.*' 


II.— INCOME  TAX. 

The  income  tax  is  a  proposition  to  exempt  all  per- 
sons from  paying  taxes  who  have  an  annual  income 
below  four  or  ^ve  thousand  dollars.  The  theory  is  to 
compel  those  to  pay  the  public  expenses  who  are  the 
most  able,  and  pay  it  according  to  the  ratio  of  their 
income.  When  this  measure  was  radically  put  to  the 
front,  it  met  with  general  favor  on  the  same  principle 


PROPOSED    REMEDIES.  219 

that  the  members  of  an  organization  would  vote  for 
an  oyster  supper  if  somebody  else  paid  for  it. 

In  1894  this  law  was  passed  by  Congress  and  signed 
by  President  Cleveland.  The  validity  of  the  law  was 
tested,  and  the  United  States  Supreme  Court,  by  a 
vote  of  five  to  four,  declared  the  law  unconstitutional. 
It  was  claimed  by  this  court  that  the  construction  of 
the  law  was  defective. 


III.— SINGLE  TAX. 

This  is  offered  by  the  Manhattan  Single  Tax  League 
of  New  York  as  a  cure  for  many  present  ills.  This 
league  teaches  that  all  land  should  be  taxed  according 
to  its  possible  value,  no  owner  being  exempted.  The 
supposition  is,  that  men  will  not  then  be  tempted  to 
hold  hundreds  of  thousands  of  acres  of  land  for  their 
own  luxury ;  but  they  will  either  hire  men  to  work  the 
land,  and  thereby  give  work  to  more  men,  or  they  will 
sell  the  land  so  it  may  be  worked  by  somebody  else. 
No  doubt  the  benefits  of  this  system  are  exaggerated, 
and,  as  is  very  frequent  in  partial  theories  of  reform, 
it  would  be  clipping  off  a  few  branches  of  the  tree  of 
social  evil  instead  of  cutting  at  the  roots. 

IV.— SELF-HELP. 

It  is  claimed  by  some  that  the  very  best  remedy  for 
the  poverty  stricken  class  would  be  the  cure  of  **  self- 
help.''  The  theory  is,  that  the  commonwealth  or  gov- 
ernment, should  make  special  provision  to  teach  every 


220 


PROPOSED    REMEDIES. 


young  man  and  young  woman  the  secrets  of  self-im- 
provement, and,  therefore,  self-advancement.  It  has 
been  found  that  the  best  methods  of  relief  are  those 
which  create  and  foster  the  spirit  of  ^* self-help.'^ 

We  answer  that  ^  ^  self -help ' '  already  has  its  great- 
est stimulus  in  our  present  competitive  system;  we 
cannot  see  how  it  would  be  possible  to  throw  out  more 
Luducements  for  men  and  women  to  be  independent 
than  are  given  in  this  war  of  the  survival  of  the  fittest. 
It  is  unavoidable  in  the  present  rush  of  selfishness  and 
competition  that  some  are  way  down.  It  will  always 
be  so  until  the  causes  of  the  present  inequality  be- 
tween man  and  man  shall  be  swept  away  to  such  an 
extent  that  all  will  have  an  equal  opportunity  to  be- 
come what  they  ought  to  be. 


v.— INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOLS. 

The  Industrial  School  is  no  longer  an  experiment. 
It  is  doing  on  a  small  scale  what  Socialism  proposes  to 
do  on  a  general  scale.  It  has  been  tried  in  Europe  and 
America.  When  Anthony  J.  Drexel,  with  the  purest  of 
motives,  founded  the  Drexel  Institute  in  Philadelphia, 
it  was  said  by  some  that  this  kind  of  work  would  even- 
tually solve  the  problem  of  labor  and  industry.  This 
institute,  and  others  of  its  kind,  have  done  a  great 
amount  of  good  and  nothing  but  words  of  praise  should 
be  spoken  concerning  those  who  have  aimed  to  help 
humanity  in  this  manner;  but  as  far  as  settling  the 
discontent  among  workingmen,  the  industrial  school 
has  accomplished  very  little. 

The  theory  of  the  industrial  school  will  find  its  most 


PEOPOSBD    KEMEDIES.  221 

practical  demonstration  under  the  co-operative  sys- 
tem of  government.  When  that  happy  time  comes, 
there  will,  no  doubt,  be  industrial  schools  to  train 
young  men  and  women  for  the  different  trades  and 
occupations  of  life,  and  when  they  get  their  training, 
they  will  not  find  a  cruel  system  of  competition  keep- 
ing them  out  of  work. 

There  are  many  other  remedies  that  have  been  pro- 
posed to  overcome  the  present  evils  of  society.  Some 
of  these  may  be  worthy  of  more  attention  than  some 
we  have  mentioned,  but  it  is  impossible  to  consider 
them.  The  whole  list  of  proposed  remedies  are  inef- 
ficient to  accomplish  the  desired  result.  Reformers 
are  gradually  seeing  that  theory  amounts  to  but  very 
little;  for  we  are  dealing  with  the  mighty  monster  of 
Monopoly,  and  nothing  but  a  hard  and  definite  blow 
will  count  for  anything.  Decisive  and  radical  action 
will  save  the  nation  and  lift  the  laboring  masses  to 
their  proper  plane  of  existence.  Men  love  their  pet 
schemes  more  than  they  love  the  truth,  and,  for  that 
reason,  much  time  and  energy  is  being  wasted.  We 
hail  with  delight  the  indication  of  the  times  in  the 
strong  tendency  to  unite  forces,  and,  no  doubt,  the 
armies  of  Labor  will  gather  their  scattered  units  to- 
gether and  unite  in  a  common  attack  upon  the  fortress 
of  Capital.  Until  then,  let  us  do  what  we  can  to  de- 
stroy petty  jealousies,  and  counteract  extreme  teach- 
ings, and  counsel  for  sensible  Labor  agitation. 


14 


CHAPTER  XX. 


I.— COMMUNISM. 


In  considering  briefly  the  subject  of  Communism, 
we  will  go  no  farther  back  than  the  days  of  the  early 
Christians.  It  is  said  that  they  had  all  things  in  com- 
mon. For  some  time  believers  tried  this  method  of 
Social  government,  and  apparently  the  system  failed. 
If  there  is  any  discredit  for  this  it  must  not  be  placed 
upon  the  Christian  faith,  or  religion,  but  rather  upon 
the  business  judgment  of  the  Christian  leaders  of  that 
time.  The  attempt  to  perpetuate  any  type  of  Com- 
munism amongst  a  select  class  of  people,  living  in  the 
midst  of  a  competitive  Social  system,  has  always  been 
attended  with  difficulties,  and  usually  results  in 
failure. 

Concerning  the  community  of  goods  at  Jerusalem, 
it  must  be  observed  that  it  was  not  compulsory.  The 
system  was  not  inaugurated  by  a  general  suffrage, 
nor  by  any  kind  of  confiscation.  The  best  light  we  have 

222 


SOCIALISTIC  REMEDIES.  223 

on  this  early  Communism  is  found  in  the  Bible,  and 
we  are  told  that  when  Ananias  had  committed  his 
crime,  Peter,  in  speaking  to  him,  made  it  clear  that 
his  sin  consisted  not  in  selling  his  land  and  keeping 
the  money,  but  in  his  deception  and  falsehood.  Peter 
said,  before  Ananias  dropped  dead,  ^^  Whiles  it  re- 
mained, was  it  not  thine  own?  and  after  it  was  sold, 
was  it  not  in  thine  own  power?  Why  hast  thou  con- 
ceived this  thing  in  thine  heart?  Thou  hast  not  lied 
unto  men,  but  unto  God/'    Acts  5:4. 

Communism  as  understood  to-day,  is  more  radical 
than  any  type  of  advanced  socialism,  but  nothing  more 
need  be  said,  inasmuch  as  it  has  given  way  to  other 
theories  and  other  systems. 


II.— CO-OPEEATIVE  SOCIETIES. 

We  have  neither  time  nor  space  to  speak  of  a  tithe 
of  the  organizations  that  have  been  formed  to  improve 
local  communities.  Many  have  flourished  for  a  short 
time,  and  then  died  a  natural  death;  others  have  lived 
and  demonstrated  the  value  of  the  Co-operative 
methods.  There  is  no  question  as  to  the  superior 
value  of  Co-operation;  but  the  garden  of  Society 
is  so  covered  with  the  weeds  and  briars  of  competi- 
tion, that  the  useful  and  blessed  plants  of  Co-opera- 
tion must  struggle  against  all  odds  before  they  can 
conquer  in  their  growth  and  come  to  maturity. 

One  of  the  most  noted  modem  examples  of  the  co- 
operative commonwealth  is  New  Zealand.  This  coun- 
try had  experienced  all  the  troubles  that  are  asso- 
ciated with  a  competitive  system  of  economics.    The 


224  SOCIALISTIC  REMEDIES. 

country  had  its  periodical  strikes,  and  labor  disturb- 
ances, and  its  shadings  of  poverty  and  crime.  After 
stumbling  in  the  dark,  hunting  for  the  cause  of  all  their 
economic  troubles,  they  found  that  it  was  private  own- 
ership and  Monopoly.  There  were  wise  heads  enough 
to  carry  sentiment  in  favor  of  reform,  so  child-labor 
in  factories  was  abolished  and  a  splendid  school  sys- 
tem was  inaugurated.  A  government  farm  was  estab- 
lished where  all  the  unemployed  could  find  work  at 
$2.00  per  day.  The  large  land  holdings  were  divided 
into  small  tracts,  giving  many  more  the  chance  to  till 
the  soil.  To  condense  a  long  description  into  a  few 
words  we  would  say  that  New  Zealand  adopted  the 
main  features  of  co-operation  and  public  ownership. 

These  reforms  were  instituted  in  1893,  and,  as  a 
result,  there  has  been  a  wonderful  change  for  the  bet- 
ter in  the  economic  affairs  of  the  country.  Strikes, 
crimes  and  poverty  have  been  decreased  and  the  peo- 
ple are  contented  and  happy.  Tramps,  beggars  and 
drunkenness  have  largely  disappeared.  It  is  being 
clearly  demonstrated,  even  to  them  who  were  skepti- 
cal at  first,  that  the  reform  movement  in  New  Zealand 
is  the  proper  solution  of  the  Social  ills  that  formerly 
afflicted  that  country,  and  that  still  throw  their  black 
shadows  over  America  and  many  other  nations. 

The  co-operative  commonwealth  idea  is  giving  one 
object  lesson  after  another  of  what  can  be  done;  and 
the  people  are  slowly  learning  the  benefits  of  such  sys- 
tems, and  by  the  experiments  that  are  being  made,  we 
will  gradually  come  to  learn  the  best  system  of  co- 
operation. All  these  things  are  school  masters  giving 
us  th'^  ^-''ii^ntion  that  is  essential  for  deliverance. 


SOCIALISTIC  REMEDIES.  225 

III.— NATIONALIZATION  OF  LAND. 

The  nationalization  of  land  is  not  a  system  of 
socialism.  The  theory  is  nearly  socialistic  in  its  tend- 
ency, and  we  mention  it  because  some  stress  has  been 
put  upon  this  subject  by  certain  enthusiasts.  This 
theory  has  been  proposed  as  a  cure  for  Social  ills.  Mr. 
Henry  George,  basing  his  argument  on  Eicardo's 
*^Law  of  Eent,''  argued  that  if  all  land  were  the  com- 
mon property  of  the  people,  it  would  result  in  untold 
blessings  to  the  wage-earners. 

We  believe  there  is  more  dreamy  speculation  in  this 
conclusion  than  appears  at  first  sight.  There  is  no 
doubt  that  some  good  might  be  accomplished  under 
the  reign  of  Mr.  George's  ideas,  but  it  is  certain  that 
all  he  has  promised  could  not  be  realized  by  the 
industrial  class. 

There  are  many  other  things  that  must  be  taken 
into  consideration  and  properly  adjusted  before  a 
substantial  relief  will  be  felt  by  the  great  class  of 
wage-earners.  The  mass  of  modern  reformers  are  not 
inclined  to  hang  their  hopes  upon  the  Nationalization 
of  Land  doctrines  alone. 

IV.— SOCIALIST  LABOE  PAETY. 

This  is  a  political  movement,  and  was  among  the 
first  in  the  United  States  to  attempt  a  marshaling  of 
forces  in  a  presidential  campaign.  This  particular 
political  party  is  radically  opposed  to  trade  unions. 
This  party  has  done  much  pioneer  work,  and  has 
helped  to  bring  about  its  own  destruction.  It  is  grad- 
ually giving  way  or  being  absorbed  by  the  Socialist 
Party, 


226  SOCIALISTIC  KEMEDIES. 

v.— SOCIALIST  PARTY. 

The  Socialist  Party  is  known  in  the  states  of  New 
York  and  Wisconsin  as  the  Social  Democratic  Party. 
This  is  due  to  the  peculiarity  of  the  laws  in  these 
states  by  which  the  party  cannot  style  itself  the  So- 
cialist Party,  and  so  we  have  one  great  political  move- 
ment under  two  wings,  that  is  aiming  to  gather  and 
foster  enough  sentiment  in  favor  of  the  co-operative 
method  until  enough  votes  can  be  won  to  carry  the 
national  election.  Already  a  number  of  smaller  offi- 
cers have  been  elected  in  different  parts  of  the  coun- 
try. The  combined  vote  of  these  two  parties  was  be- 
tween four  and  five  hundred  thousand  in  the  year 
1904.  The  platform  of  the  Socialist  Party  in  1904  is 
very  comprehensive,  and  so  lengthy  that  we  cannot 
insert  it  here. 

There  are  other  socialistic  movements  that  have 
been  operating  to  remedy  the  present  evils  of  society ; 
they  are  all  struggling  for  existence,  each  one  hoping 
to  sweep  the  world  with  its  power  by  some  sudden 
uprise  of  popular  opinion.  If  it  were  not  for  the 
policy  of  each  one  operating  in  his  own  little  corner, 
the  redemption  of  Labor  would  quickly  come  to  pass ; 
but  it  will  necessarily  occupy  much  time  and  consume 
much  energy  in  uniting  the  movements  of  social 
reform. 

In  the  next  chapter  we  shall  consider  Socialism  di- 
rectly, with  the  hope  that  the  reader  may  get  a  clear 
idea  of  what  is  meant  by  this  movement. 


FoLi^owiNG  THE  PoLiTiCAi.  LEADER. — One  of  the  most  pitiful  sights  of 
our  present  age,  is  the  manner  in  which  the  masses  of  voters  are  tricked 
by  campaign  promises.  They  follow  the  leader  like  slaves  into  deeper 
darkne§s» 


CHAPTER  XXI. 


The  word  Socialism  has  been  used  in  a  very  elastic 
sense  to  cover  the  principal  schools  of  economical  re- 
form through  the  past  ages.  There  is  a  reason  for 
this  confusion  since  many  have  called  themselves 
Socialists  who  breathed  the  air  of  the  libertine  and 
who  walked  in  the  path  of  Anarchy ;  but  gradually  the 
ear  of  corn  is  being  stripped  of  its  dark  husks,  and  the 
world  is  seeing  more  clearly  the  good  and  wholesome 
grain.  Thoughtful  men  are  rapidly  clearing  their 
minds  of  the  prejudice  that  they  have  held  against 
Socialism,  because  they  are  making  allowance  for  the 
wild  and  erratic  expressions  of  certain  laborers  who 
feel  the  iron  heel  of  oppression  and  are  blindly  striking 
back.     Christian  men  have  long  ago  recognized  the 

229 


230  SOCIALISM. 

inequalities  between  neighbors  of  the  human  family, 
and  have  been  looking  for  a  method  to  equalize  the 
conditions  under  which  the  human  brotherhood  shall 
live.  They  have  found  that  true  social  reform  offers 
the  best  remedy  for  existing  ills.  It  is  therefore 
proper  to  give  an  idea  of  what  is  meant  by  Socialism. 


I.— DEFINITIONS  OF  SOCIALISM. 

Socialism  is  a  new  industrial  system  which  aims  to 
give  to  all  a  more  equal  distribution  of  the  products 
of  Labor  by  the  public  collective  ownership  and  man- 
agement of  all  industries  and  all  land. 

We  will  give  a  number  of  other  definitions  from 
various  sources.  Let  us  first  listen  to  what  the  dic- 
tionaries say: 

**  Socialism  is  a  theory  of  society  that*  advocates  a 
more  precise,  orderly  and  harmonious  arrangement  of 
the  social  relations  of  mankind  than  that  which  has 
hitherto  prevailed. ' ' — Webster. 

**  Socialism  is  a  science  of  reconstructing  society  on 
an  entirely  new  basis,  by  substituting  the  principle  of 
association  for  that  of  competition  in  every  branch 
of  human  industry." — Worcester. 

**  Socialism  is  the  abolition  of  that  individual  action 
on  which  modem  societies  depend,  and  the  substitu- 
tion of  a  regulated  system  of  co-operative  action." — 
Imperial. 

**  Socialism  is  a  theory  of  policy  that  aims  to  secure 
the  reconstruction  of  society,  increase  of  wealth,  and 
a  more  equal  distribution  of  the  products  of  labor 
through  the  public  collective  ownership  of  land  and 


SOCIAIJSM.  231 

capital  (as  distinguished  from  property)  and  the  pub- 
lic collective  management  of  all  industries.  Its  motto 
is  *  Everyone  according  to  his  deeds/  '^ — Standard. 

**  Socialism  is  any  theory  or  system  of  local  organ- 
ization which  would  abolish  entirely,  or  in  a  great 
part,  the  individual  effort  and  competition  on  which 
modern  society  rests,  and  substitute  co-operation; 
which  would  introduce  a  more  perfect  and  equal  dis- 
tribution of  the  products  of  labor,  and  would  make 
land  and  capital,  as  the  instruments  of  production,  the 
joint  possession  of  the  community.'* — Century. 

We  will  now  give  a  few  definitions  of  Socialism  from 
certain  writers  on  Social  Reform: 

**What  Socialists  (and  many  anti-Socialists  as 
well)  propose  for  early  adoption  is:  City  ownership 
and  management  of  lighting  plants,  water  works  and 
street  railroads,  and  national  ownership  and  manage- 
ment of  railroads,  telegraphs  and  mines.'' — Wilbur  F. 
Crafts  in  ** Practical  Christian  Sociology." 

**  Socialism  aims  to  unite  the  greatest  liberty  of  ac- 
tion with  the  common  ownership  of  the  raw  material 
of  the  globe,  and  an  equal  participation  of  all  in  the 
benefits  of  combined  labor." — John  Stuart  Mill. 

**  Socialism,  in  general,  desires  to  abolish  private 
property  only  in  so  far  as  it  enables  one  to  gather  an 
income  through  the  toil  of  others  without  personal 
exertion.  *  *  *  Not  only  are  the  material  instru- 
ments of  production  to  be  owned  in  common,  but  they 
are  to  be  managed  by  the  collectivity  in  order  that  to 
the  people  as  a  whole,  may  accrue  all  those  gains  of 
enterprise  called  profits.  *  *  *  ^e  may  call  the 
chief  purpose  of  Socialism  distributive  justice." — 
Ely's  Socialism. 


232 


SOCIALISM. 


** Socialism  abhors  the  violent  methods  of  fanatics; 
it  is  peaceful  and  law-abiding,  and  it  puts  its  trust  in 
ballots  rather  than  in  bombs.  *  *  *  The  hull  of 
the  present  industrial  ship  is  rotten  and  utterly  un- 
seaworthy;  her  keel  of  private  capital^  her  vaulted 
ribs  of  freedom  of  contract,  and  her  prow  of  free  com- 
petition, all  fused  together  and  festering  with  the 
vicious  principle  of  self-interest,  have  come  to  be  in 
the  progressive  evolution  of  society,  economically  in- 
defensible and  socially  destructive  assumptions. 

**Such  is  the  leaky  condition  of  the  worn-out  craft 
of  individualism,  endangering  the  lives  alike  of  its 
capitalistic  cabin  passengers  and  its  laboring  steerage 
passengers,  when  the  Socialistic  Ship  of  State  comes 
alongside  and  invites  the  imperilled  passengers  and 
crew  to  get  on  board.  We  examine  fhe  principles  on 
which  the  new  ship  is  constructed,  and,  finding  them 
to  be  civil  liberty,  fraternal  equality  and  social  justice, 
we  are  logically  bound  to  accept  them  without  regard 
to  the  particular  manner  in  which  the  ship  may  be 
rigged. ' ' — F.  M.  Sprague,  in  ^ '  Socialism  from  Genesis 
to  Eevelation. '  * 

**  Socialism  deserves  an  entire  volume  for  its  dis- 
cussion, and  no  attempt  will  be  made  in  this  book  to 
analyze  or  define  it.  Under  it,  there  is  contemplated 
a  complete  revolution  by  some  means,  peaceful  or 
otherwise,  of  the  present  industrial  system,  and  the 
establishment  of  a  new  order,  which  shall  rest  entirely 
upon  public  control." — Carroll  D.  Wright,  *^ Outline 
of  Practical  Sociology"  Page  421. 

We  will  cease  giving  definitions  for  the  present,  be- 
cause, according  to  Mr.  Weeks,  a  clear  conception  can- 
not be  gained  in  thi^  manner.  We  quote  from  one  of 


SOCIALISM.  233 

his  speeches :  ^  *  Socialism  is  a  living  phenomenon,  and 
like  all  live  things,  eludes  definition.  A  live  thing  can 
be  viewed  at  so  many  different  angles,  and,  besides, 
it  changes  so  insensibly  from  moment  to  moment,  that 
to  sit  down  and  make  an  all  around  definition  of  it  is 
a  task  nearly  hopeless.'' — Eufus  W.  Weeks. 

II.— AIMS  OF  SOCIALISM. 

The  aims  of  Socialism  are  supposed  to  be  embodied 
in  the  definitions  which  we  have  just  given,  but  very 
frequently  a  person  may  read  the  definitions  and  yet 
not  know  much  about  the  subject.  It  is  our  purpose 
to  make  this  subject  clear,  and  so  we  will  proceed  to 
give  the  objects  which  the  Social  Reformers  have  in 
view. 

1.  The  Collective  Ownership  and  Management  of 
all  the  Industries. 

2.  The  Equalization  of  the  Burdens  of  Society. 

3.  Individuals  Sharing  the  Full  Social  Products 
of  Their  Labors. 

These  are  three  great  aims  and  must  be  understood 
in  order  to  be  appreciated.  The  Co-operative  Com- 
monwealth is  a  coming  reality,  and  will  be  here  just 
as  soon  as  the  general  mass  of  people  are  fully  awak- 
ened to  their  privileges.  We  will  give  the  postoffice 
system  of  the  United  States  as  a  practical  illustration 
of  public  ownership  and  management;  and,  if  a  per- 
son can  see  how  beneficial  this  is,  he  will  then  be  able 
to  see  how  the  principle  will  work  in  other  branches 
of  industry. 

It  seems  like  a  miracle  that  the  true,  common  sense 
idea  of  social  economics  should  find  its  full  expression 


234  SOCIALISM. 

in  relation  to  the  postoffice  department.  It  is  a  won- 
der that  the  schemers  did  not  prevent  the  public  own- 
ership and  management  of  this  splendid  department. 
As  we  now  have  it,  all  the  people  own  the  entire  post- 
office  service  from  one  end  to  the  other  of  our  great 
country;  and,  for  that  reason,  a  letter  can  be  sent 
across  fifteen  states  for  as  much  money  as  it  will  cost 
to  send  across  one  county.  In  addition  to  this,  the 
same  rules  and  regulations  are  operative  throughout 
the  whole  system,  so  that  a  business  man  can  calculate 
with  accuracy  when  he  deals  with  the  postoffice 
department. 

Can  you  imagine  the  result,  if  private  monopolies 
controlled  this  department  of  service?  No  doubt  we 
would  have  one  company  running  a  mail  line  from  San 
Francisco  to  Denver,  and  another  from  Denver  to 
Chicago,  and  another  from  New  York  to  Washington, 
and  after  this  fashion  the  lines  would  be  duplicated 
until  our  country  would  be  covered  with  private  mail 
systems,  each  one  competing  with  the  other,  and  after 
the  order  of  the  express  companies,  each  one  charging 
its  own  rate,  so  that  it  would  cost  possibly  sixteen 
cents  to  send  a  letter  across  the  continent,  nine  cents 
half  that  far,  and  three  cents  for  shorter  distances.  If 
this  were  proposed  instead -of  our  present  Socialistic 
system,  how  many  people  would  be  willing  to  make 
the  change?  We  need  not  wait  for  an  answer,  nearly 
all  business  men  are  ready  to  admit  that  one  of  the 
most  reliable  concerns  is  the  postoffice  system  under 
the  supervision  of  the  government. 

Would  it  not  be  a  great  blessing  to  all  the  people 
if  the  railroads,  express  companies,  telegraph  and 
telephone  companies,  and,  in  fact,  every  other  indua- 


SOOIALIBM.  235 

try,  were  under  the  control  of  all  the  people  instead  of 
being  controlled  by  a  few  grasping,  greedy  monopolists 
who  take  advantage  wherever  opportunity  offers? 
Why  should  not  the  national  government  own  all  the 
railroads  in  the  nation?  The  advantages  that  would 
flow  to  the  people  would  be  countless  compared  with 
what  they  now  enjoy.  Our  government  would  have 
owned  the  railroads  long  ago,  if  it  were  not  for  the 
fact  that  the  railroad  corporations  can  afford  to  buy 
up  enough  of  the  state  legislators  and  enough  of  the 
lawmakers  at  Washington  to  carry  through  any  pro- 
ject they  desire.  It  is  said,  on  good  authority,  that 
in  the  legislature  of  one  of  the  western  states,  a  single 
state  legislator  received  and  distributed  a  thousand 
railroad  passes  in  one  session  for  the  purpose  of  win- 
ning  political  support.  The  poor  people  must  pay 
enough  carfare  so  that  many  who  are  able  to  pay  can 
ride  free.  The  saddest  feature  of  all  is  that  this  brib- 
ery plunders  the  state  and  also  demoralizes  its 
citizens. 

Another  curse  of  the  private  ownership  of  our  rail- 
roads is  seen  in  the  large  number  of  killed  and  wounded 
annually.  Some  one  has  said  that  it  is  more  danger- 
ous to  be  employed  on  an  American  railroad  than  to 
be  a  soldier  in  the  Prussian  army  in  time  of  war.  If 
the  government  owned  the  railroads,  then  there  would 
be  no  time  or  expense  spared  for  the  adjustment  of 
safety  appliances,  and  for  the  adoption  of  all  other 
precautionary  measures,  and  all  these  benefits  would 
be  furnished  at  cost.  As  we  now  have  it,  the  people 
of  the  United  States  are  paying  dividends  on  several 
billions  of  watered  stock,  and  in  many  sections  of  our 
country  they  are  also  paying  the  expense  of  keeping 


236  SOCIALISM. 

up  competing  lines  where  one  railway  would  be  suf- 
ficient. A  person  who  will  give  honest  thought  to  this 
question,  can  see  at  a  glance  what  tremendous  advan- 
tages would  come  to  us,  if  the  government  owned  and 
controlled  all  the  transportation  mediums  of  the 
country. 

Think  for  a  moment  of  the  telephone  service.  Com- 
petition forces  upon  a  community  two  or  three  com- 
panies, and  a  person  having  only  one  telephone  is  lim- 
ited to  that  exclusive  company's  operations.  If  the 
government  owned  its  own  system  of  telephones,  we 
would  not  be  obliged  to  ask  whether  a  certain  party 
had  this  'phone  or  that  'phone,  for  all  such  inconven- 
iences and  relics  of  competition  would  be  swept  away. 
With  very  little  thought  it  can  be  seen  that  competi- 
tion under  private  ownership  is  both  burdensome  and 
inconvenient  to  Society. 

The  more  difficult  problem  for  solution  is  to  make 
practical  the  public  ownership  of  industries  that  per- 
tain to  the  manufacture  of  food  stuffs,  wearing  ap- 
parel, and  all  the  articles  that  are  used  in  our  homes 
and  business  life.  This  will  be  a  later  step  in  the  his- 
tory of  public  ownership  and  it  will  not  be  inaugurated 
until  other  measures  have  been  enacted.  The  first 
question  is:  **How  shall  we  get  possession  of  our 
industries?"  For  the  answer  to  this  question  we  will 
refer  you  to  a  chapter  XXVII.  If  the  government 
once  obtains  possession  of  all  the  trusts  and  monopo- 
lies, it  can  then  easily  run  them  under  its  own  man- 
agement. The  great  difference  will  be,  that  the  peo- 
ple as  a  whole,  will  share  in  the  benefits  of  all  the 
trusts  in  the  country,  instead  of  the  benefits  flowing 
into  the  hands  of  the  kings  of  finance,  some  of  whom 


SOCIALISM.  237 

are  so  rich  that  their  fortunes  have  attracted  the 
attention  of  all  the  world. 

As  to  the  second  and  third  aims  of  Socialism,  these 
will  naturally  and  easily  follow  if  the  first  aim  is 
reached.  The  blessings  that  will  come  to  society  as  a 
result  of  Co-operative  rule,  we  have  unfolded  in  three 
chapters  entitled,  ^'Blessings  Under  Social  Eeform.*' 
We  invite  the  reader  to  study  these  three  chapters 
carefully,  in  order  to  get  a  brief  picture  of  the  num- 
berless blessings  that  will  surely  come  to  us  when  the 
glorious  day  of  Social  Eeform  is  at  hand. 


III.— EEMAEKS  CONCEENING  SOCIALISM. 


1. — Socialism  is  Pkactical,  and  is  Endorsed  by 
Eminent  Men. 

Untried  theories  are  looked  upon  with  suspicion, 
but  Socialism  is  more  than  theory;  it  is  even  more 
than  an  experiment.  Many  of  its  first  principles  have 
been  tried  with  very  satisfactory  results.  Hon.  Eobt. 
P.  Porter,  Superintendent  of  the  United  States  Cen- 
sus of  1890,  in  a  letter  from  England  says,  **It  is 
claimed,  and  I  shall  show  hereafter,  with  considerable 
truth,  that  whenever  the  government  or  the  munici- 
pality, in  England,  has  undertaken  an  enterprise  here- 
tofore managed  by  private  individuals,  the  work  has 
been  more  satisfactorily  done;  those  employed  have 
been  better  paid,  and  the  people  are  better  pleased 
with  the  result.  *  *  *  The  excellent  results  from 
municipal  ownership  of  gas  and  water  works  and  the 


238  SOCIALISM. 

profits  from  these  enterprises,  have  settled  this  phase 
of  the  municipal  problem  for  all  time  to  come.  * ' 

Mmiicipal  ownership  gives  us  a  very  direct  idea  on  a 
small  scale,  of  what  true  Social  Reform  will  do  on  a 
large  scale.  It  cannot  be  doubted  that  municipal  own- 
ership is  very  successful,  and  is  paving  the  way  for  the 
larger  movement ;  for  not  only  hundreds  but  thousands 
of  cities  are  voting  for  municipal  ownership.  A  short 
time  ago  the  legislature  of  Nebraska  passed  a  law  com- 
pelling the  city  government  of  Omaha  to  take  posses- 
sion of  its  water  works.  Public  opinion  is  ripening  so 
rapidly  on  this  question,  that  over  one-half  of  all  the 
cities  and  towns  in  the  United  States  own  their  water- 
works. Reports  are  coming  in  from  all  places  of  the 
great  success  of  this  new  movement.  People  get  better 
service  for  less  money,  and  could  not  be  persuaded  to 
return  to  the  old  time  custom. 

Along  the  general  line  of  Municipal  Ownership,  the 
United  States  is  far  behind  Great  Britain.  This 
country  across  the  sea  is  launching  into  new  ter- 
ritory; it  is  slowly  but  surely  pursuing  a  policy 
leading  toward  the  co-operative  commonwealth.  In 
Glasgow,  where  nearly  a  million  people  live,  the  mu- 
nicipal ownership  idea  has  been  developed  to  an  un- 
usual extent.  The  city  owns  and  manages  its  own 
slaughter  houses,  its  market  system,  its  sanitary  wash- 
houses,  its  lodging  houses,  art  galleries,  gas  and  elec- 
tric works,  and  city  farm  where  the  sewage  is  used, 
and  fodder  raised  to  feed  horses  that  are  needed  to 
clean  the  city  streets. 

It  is  remarkable  what  effect  this  municipal  owner- 
ship is  having  on  the  city  of  Glasgow.  Its  working 
people  are  elevated;  wealth  is  distributed;  the  num- 


SOCIALISM.  239 

ber  of  hours  for  a  day's  work  has  been  reduced;  street- 
car fares  have  been  greatly  cut;  all  kinds  of  trans- 
portation are  cheaper;  and  in  every  way,  great  bless- 
ings have  come  to  the  people. 

If  it  were  necessary,  we  could  give  this  one  testi- 
mony from  over  one  thousand  cities,  to  prove  that  mu- 
nicipal  ownership  is  working  favorably,  and  that  the 
people  could  not  be  persuaded  to  surrender  their  pub- 
licly controlled  franchises,  and  hand  them  over  to  a  few 
individuals  to  run  them  as  they  might  see  fit. 

The  advocates  of  Social  Eeform  are  now  legion,  and 
among  them  are  some  bright  lights.  Back  in  the  mid- 
dle of  the  Nineteenth  Century  it  was  both  vaguely 
and  definitely  advocated  in  America  by  such  illustrious 
characters  as  Hawthorne,  Emerson,  Lowell,  Whittier, 
Thoreau,  Channing,  Chas.  A.  Dana.  England  also  fur- 
nished a  shining  galaxy  of  able  Socialistic  advocates. 

2. — Socialism  is  the  Fifth  Industrial  Obder  in  the 
History  of  Labor. 

We  will  once  more  give  a  bird's-eye-view  of  the  five 
industrial  systems  covering  the  history  of  Labor. 

(1)  Natural  Liberty, 

Under  this  system  or  systemless  order  of  society, 
every  man  worked  for  himself  and  enjoyed  the  boun- 
ties of  nature  at  his  own  pleasure.  Society  was  then 
simple  and  rude,  and  was  in  its  first  stages. 

(2)  Slavery, 

This  became  the  ruling  form  of  labor  in  all  the  great 
countries  of  ancient  times.     Labor  then  was  at  its 
lowest  point. 
15 


240  SOCIALISM. 

(3)  Feudalism. 

This  was  a  slight  advance  over  slavery  and  was  pre- 
dominant through  medieval  times. 

(4)  Capitalistic  and  Contract  System, 

This  is  the  system  under  which  we  are  now  living. 
It  is  capitalistic  because  private  capital  is  the  ruling 
power  in  the  labor  world. 

(5)     Socialism, 

This  is  not  here  yet,  but  it  is  coming  with  steady 
advance,  and  no  power  will  be  able  to  stop  the 
avalanche  when  its  full  sweep  is  on. 

This  leads  us  to  make  the  following  declaration : 

3. — Socialism  is  a  Wobld-Wide  Influence  and  Will 
Finally  Triumph. 

It  was  hoped  by  some  of  the  great  Socialists  that 
the  better  state  of  Society  would  come  about  by  evolu- 
tion ;  but  the  majority  of  people  have  been  taught  that 
evolution  takes  several  million  years  to  make  a  partial 
change  in  the  organism  of  the  body;  consequently, 
some  practically  minded  men  approve  of  the  movement 
in  politics.  This  method  will  accomplish  more  in  one 
decade  than  evolution  could  accomplish  in  ages;  so 
that  viewing  Socialism  conservatively,  it  must  be  said 
that  it  is  now  passing  through  the  dark  valley  between 
two  mountain  tops.  It  is  gradually  scaling  the  steep 
inclines,  and  it  shall  have  for  its  support  the  most  emi- 
nent scholars  in  the  very  near  future.  It  is  fightmg 
the  same  battle  that  Christianity  fought  in  the  begin- 


SOCIALISM.  241 

ning.  It  was  said  then,  **Not  many  wise  men,  not 
many  mighty,  not  many  noble  are  called ;  but  God  hath 
chosen  the  foolish  things  of  the  world  to  confound  the 
wise ;  and  God  hath  chosen  the  weak  things  of  the  world 
to  confound  things  which  are  mighty ;  and  base  thiugs 
of  the  world,  things  which  are  despised  hath  God 
chosen,  yea  and  things  which  are  not,  to  bring  to 
nought  the  things  that  are.^'  Although  Christianity 
had  humble  men  for  its  leaders,  yet,  through  its  in- 
herent qualities,  it  has  grown  to  be  a  world-wide 
power,  and  is  supported  by  the  greatest  minds  in  the 
world;  so  we  predict  that  Socialism  shall  have  a 
similar  course. 

The  public  press  of  our  country  is  largely  controlled 
by  the  dominant  political  parties,  and  therefore  the 
people  are  not  given  the  most  encouraging  news  con- 
cerning the  advance  of  Socialistic  thought.  The  So- 
cialistic party  had  a  stormy  beginning,  and  many  of  its 
adherents  were  not  in  accord  with  the  Christian 
church,  and  therefore,  they  held  many  of  their  political 
meetings  on  Sunday,  (as  they  still  do),  at  which,  in 
some  instances,  intoxicating  drinks  are  used.  Such 
facts  as  these  have  given  a  ** black  eye'*  to  the  Social- 
istic movement;  but  these  things  will  be  counteracted 
when  the  attention  of  the  general  public  is  aroused  to 
see  the  real  condition  of  things.  When  the  prevailing 
sentiment  in  the  Socialistic  party  manifests  the  spirit 
of  true  Christianity,  these  objectionable  things  will 
vanish  like  the  darkness  before  the  rising  sun. 

The  reader  can  draw  his  own  conclusion  as  to  the 
probable  outcome  of  this  political  movement.  We  are 
evidently  standing  on  the  edge  of  great  agitations  in 
the    industrial    world.      The    millionaire,    Rufus    W. 


242 


SOCIALISM. 


Weeks,  said,  ^ '  That  great  movement  of  which  we  have 
seen  the  beginning  in  the  Nineteenth  Century,  and  of 
which  the  Twentieth  Century  is  very  likely  to  see  the 
consummation,  is  the  uprising  of  the  working  class, 
*  *  *  those  who  are  hired  in  herds.  *  *  *  The 
venerable  historian,  Mommsen,  said,  concerning  Social- 
ists a  year  or  two  since :  ^  To-day  this  is  the  only  great 
party  which  has  a  claim  to  political  respect. »  *  *  * 
If,  in  this  attempt  to  read  the  Social  mathematics  of 
the  times,  I  have  read  aright,  it  appears  that  the 
working  classes  are  to  be  our  masters!  Let  us  hope 
they  will  be  good  to  us.  After  all,  they  will  demand 
no  more  from  us  than  the  northern  states  demanded  of 
the  southern — to  come  in  and  to  be  one  with  them  on 
equal  terms.'' 

When  the  new  economic  government  is  established, 
it  is  quite  certain  that  all  reasonable  people  will 
greatly  rejoice,  and  will  clearly  see  the  definite  ad- 
vantages of  the  new  order  over  the  old.  We  will  state 
in  the  next  three  chapters  a  few  of  the  blessings  which 
we  will  realize  under  the  reign  of  the  Socialistic  gov- 
ernment. 


243 


CHAPTEE  XXn. 


^/Poverty/ will  cease./ 
//  Misfortunes  equally 


Death-rate  ^  sickness 

will/decresfee./^ 


,  ^  Chfldren' wiiPW^ 

7)Sunday^lab6r  will  ^ 
/^-^i^decreg-se. 
'^Intemperance  and 
''prostitution  will  be 


It  has  often  been  asked:  **What  advantages  would 
we  enjoy  if  we  were  now  living  in  a  state  of  Christian 
Socialism?''  This  is  a  natural  and  a  reasonable  ques- 
tion, and,  if  it  were  necessary,  we  might  suggest  or 
conjecture  all  the  possible  benefits  entering  into  every 
detail  of  life;  but  it  is  not  necessary.  We  will,  how- 
ever, state  some  of  the  chief  blessings  that  will  come 
to  us  as  soon  as  we  are  willing  to  throw  off  the  yoke 
under  which  we  are  now  groaning,  and  step  out  into 
the  liberty  of  the  new  and  happy  life  of  Social  Eef orm. 

We  will  give  in  this  chapter  and  the  one  following, 
a  few  results  that  will  follow  in  practical  life  under 
Christian  Socialism;  a  person  of  average  ability  can 

244 


BLESSINGS  UNDER  SOCIAL  REFORM.  245 

then  easily  make  a  wider  application  of  the  same  prin- 
ciples, working  it  out  on  any  line  that  his  fancy  might 
dictate.  If  the  great  questions  of  life  are  settled,  the 
smaller  ones  will  adjust  themselves.  We  will  at  once 
consider  a  few  blessings. 


I.^POVERTY  WILL  BE  AT  AN  END. 


First,  we  will  speak  of  the  poverty  of  the  poor. 
What  terrible  pictures  of  wretchedness  and  want  rise 
before  us,  as  we  think  of  the  conditions  in  which  the 
most  unfortunate  classes  of  human  beings  are  com- 
pelled to  work  and  live.  In  one  picture  we  see  the 
hosts  of  honest  workers,  underpaid,  underfed,  poorly 
clad,  badly  housed  and  over-worked,  living  from  hand 
to  mouth  on  the  starvation  wages  which  they  receive 
in  return  for  eight,  ten  or  twelve  hours  of  slavish  work 
a  day.  Another  picture  reveals  to  us  the  vagrant  class 
composed  of  the  worthless,  shiftless  vagabonds  of 
Society.  Another  picture  portrays,  with  cruel  vivid- 
ness, the  widow  and  the  orphan  struggling  in  a  cold 
world,  with  the  breadwinner  dead,  and  the  bread-seller 
asking  for  his  cash.  These  are  only  a  few  of  the  touch- 
ing sights  that  greet  us  in  practical  life,  and  ever  re- 
mind us  of  the  miserable  poverty  of  the  poor.  All 
these  conditions  will  be  at  an  end  under  the  glorious 
reign  of  Social  Reform,  for  there  will  be  no  under- 
paid and  underfed  workmen,  no  vagrants  and  no 
widow  who  must  become  a  wage-earner  to  support  her 
five  children. 

One  of  the  first  duties  of  Society  under  Co-opera- 


246  BLESSINGS  UNDER  SOCIAL  EEFORM. 

tion  will  be  to  supply  every  human  being  with  ample 
food,  clothing,  shelter  and  education.  From  a  Social 
standpoint,  this  will  be  all  for  which  the  people  will 
ask.  The  law  of  Social  Reform  is  plain  and  distinct 
that  no  human  creature  need  to  live  in  suspense  when 
contemplating  the  future.  Each  one  will  be  sure  of 
having  enough  to  eat  and  wear  to  the  end  of  his  days. 
He  will  not  only  receive  the  necessities  of  life,  but  will 
also  enjoy  a  reasonable  share  of  the  luxuries.  There 
will  be  no  low,  dirty  hovels  where  human  beings  will 
be  compelled  to  live;  in  fact.  Society  will  not  permit 
anyone  to  live  in  such  an  unsanitary  place,  no  matter 
how  much  he  might  wish  to  do  so.  To  live  in  filth  will 
be  just  as  unlawful  as  to  steal.  Everybody  will  enjoy 
full  liberty  to  do  right,  but  to  do  wrong  will  be  just  as 
unlawful  as  it  ever  has  been. 

Some  one  asks  the  question,  ^^How  will  it  be  possible 
for  everybody  to  live  comfortably?  Where  will  the 
money  come  from?'*  We  answer,  even  if  it  be  out  of 
place  at  this  point,  by  saying,  that  another  of  the  great 
duties  of  Society  will  be  to  see  that  every  person  is 
sure  of  work.  There  will  be  no  children  toiling  their 
lives  away  in  the  sweat-shop  or  workshop  to  help  keep 
the  wolf  from  the  door  of  their  home.  There  will  be 
no  widows  slaving  at  the  wash-tub  to  earn  a  little 
money  to  buy  bread  for  themselves  and  children. 
There  will  be  no  half -sickly  fathers  struggling  on  their 
way  to  work  under  the  law  of  grim  necessity.  All  these 
barbarous  scenes  will  be,  in  those  days,  only  pictures 
hanging  on  the  walls  of  beautiful  homes,  reminders  of 
the  tyranny  and  oppression  of  the  capitalistic  system 
under  which  we  are  consciously  and  unconsciously 
groaning  to-day. 


BLESSINGS  UNDER  SOCIAL  REFORM.  247 

Every  man  will  be  glad  to  do  his  share  of  the  work 
when  he  realizes  that  he  is  receiving  the  full  product 
of  his  toil,  and  when  Social  Reform  is  reigning,  no 
man  will  be  required  to  work  more  than  from  four  to 
seven  hours  per  day,  according  to  the  kind  of  occupa- 
tion and  degree  of  effort.  Woe  betide  the  man  who 
is  able  to  work,  and  tries  to  evade  it  in  that  day.  If  he 
will  not  work  in  open  liberty  a  few  hours  per  day,  he 
will  be  compelled  to  work  in  the  criminal  workshops 
twice  that  length  of  time  until  he  is  cured.  The  man 
who  is  born  lazy  will  not  be  killed,  but  will  only  be  re- 
quired to  do  the  same  amount  of  work  as  his  fellow 
men ;  and  if  that  should  happen  to  kill  him,  he  will  re- 
ceive a  decent  burial;  but  the  man  who  is  sickly  and 
unable  to  work,  will  receive  the  same  considerate  at- 
tention and  care  as  a  mother  would  bestow  upon  a 
sickly  child.  Social  Reform  proposes  to  make  as  prac- 
tical as  possible,  the  social  teachings  of  Jesus  Christ. 
It  does  not  intend  to  do  the  work  of  the  Christian 
Church,  but  leaves  all  spiritual  teaching  to  the 
spiritual  department. 

All  such  provisions  as  heretofore  mentioned  will  re- 
sult in  lifting  the  grovelling  masses  upon  a  higher 
plane  of  life.  Who,  then,  will  be  homesick  for  the  old 
conditions  such  as  we  now  have  ?  Who  will  be  desirous 
for  the  onions  and  garlic  of  Egypt? 

Having  considered  the  poverty  of  the  poor,  we  will 
now  speak  of  the  poverty  of  the  rich,  which  sounds  like 
a  contradiction  in  terms.  The  great  majority  of  our 
wealthy  people  are  poor  in  more  ways  than  one  under 
the  strained  conditions  of  our  present  economic  life. 
We  are  not  looking  at  the  matter  spiritually,  but  refer 


248  BLESSINGS  UNDER  SOCIAL  REFORM. 

to  the  natural  burdens  and  struggles  imposed  upon  the 
rich  by  reason  of  their  environments.  There  are,  pro- 
portionately, just  as  many  lives  ruined  and  just  as 
many  sent  to  a  premature  death  by  riches  as  by  pov- 
erty. We  can  also  carry  the  comparison  still  farther, 
by  saying,  that  there  are  just  as  many  cases  of  ner- 
vous prostration  and  insanity  resulting  from  the  ab- 
normal conditions  of  wealth  as  from  the  painful  con- 
ditions of  poverty.  The  great  masses  of  poor  people 
are  just  as  unconscious  of  the  restlessness,  anxiety  and 
misery  among  the  rich,  as  the  rich  are  of  the  wretched- 
ness and  want  amongst  the  poor.  There  are  exceptions 
to  all  rules,  and,  no  doubt,  there  are  many  rich  people 
who  are  having  a  good,  easy  time  in  this  life,  and  are 
unmindful  of  their  duties  to  God  and  Society.  Many  of 
these  will  go  down  to  eternal  ruin,  while  from  the  hum- 
ble hut  many  a  poor  Christian  will  rise  to  eternal 
mansions  in  Heaven. 

Under  the  reign  of  Social  Reform,  this  poverty  of 
the  rich  will  be  at  an  end,  and  we  believe  that  there 
will  be  thousands  of  wealthy  people  who  will  be  glad 
to  let  their  responsibility  be  limited  to  a  few  hours 
work  per  day,  instead  of  carrying  day  and  night  a  load 
intolerable,  and  yet  be  envied.  No  doubt  when  Social 
Reform  commences  its  reign,  due  regard  will  be  given 
to  those  who  possess  a  fortune,  large  or  small.  Just 
what  will  become  of  their  wealth  and  how  it  will  be 
managed  for  the  good  of  the  owner  and  the  good  of 
Society,  will  be  determined  later.  Small  difficulties  of 
this  kind  ought  not  and  will  not  retard  the  progress  of 
Social  Reform. 


BLESSINGS  UNDER  SOCIAL  REFORM.  249 

n.— THE  FINANCIAL  BURDEN  OF  ALL 

MISFORTUNES  WILL  BE  BORNE 

BY  THE  PUBLIC. 

The  principal  suffering  that  will  come  to  the  home 
of  any  individual  meeting  with  misfortune,  will  be 
sorrow  of  heart,  and  the  natural  troubles  and  incon- 
veniences that  usually  attend  afflictions.  Such  burdens 
are  unavoidable,  but  whatever  money  or  human  means 
can  do,  will  be  furnished  promptly  and  freely,  and  the 
wage-earner  with  those  dependent  upon  him,  will  be 
fully  supported  during  the  whole  period  of  affliction. 

Concerning  accidents  and  all  similar  misfortunes, 
we  would  say  that  the  injured  will  be  properly  cared 
for  in  the  municipal  hospital,  or,  in  certain  cases,  in 
the  individual's  home.  All  the  cost  for  this  attention 
will  be  free,  and  the  service  given  will  be  the  best  that 
Society  can  furnish.  The  state  will  provide  an  ample 
and  a  most  efficient  corps  of  nurses,  and  expert  atten- 
tion will  be  given,  free  of  charge,  to  those  who  need  it, 
regardless  of  their  circumstances. 

What  is  true  concerning  accidents,  is  also  true  con- 
cerning all  kinds  of  sickness.  The  services  of  the  or- 
dinary or  special  physician  will  be  free,  and  he  will 
not  be  required  to  work  like  a  slave  night  and  day.  He 
will  ordinarily  be  on  duty  no  more  than  six  or  eight 
hours,  and  he  will  receive  everything  essential  to  life 
and  happiness  for  his  compensation. 

Also  in  that  glorious  coming  age  there  will  be  no 
competing  drug  stores  dealing  out  all  kinds  of  poison- 
ous patent  medicines.  This  department  will  be  under 
the  control  of  the  state,  and  nothing  but  the  purest 
and  best  tested  remedies  will  be  used. 


250  BLESSINGS  UNDER  SOCIAL  EEFORM. 

In  the  event  of  death,  Social  Reform  does  not  prom- 
ise to  heal  heart  womids  that  have  been  made,  but  it 
does  promise  to  take  away  the  bitter  stings  that  are 
so  often  felt  under  our  present  system.  It  will  do  all 
this  by  properly  taking  care  of  the  remains,  under 
the  charge  of  competent  undertakers,  and  after  the 
remains  have  been  respectably  interred,  there  will  be 
no  bill  for  the  graveyard  plot,  or  for  the  undertaker's 
services,  coming  to  the  bereaved  family.  All  this  will 
be  just  as  free  as  the  air  they  breathe.  Just  before 
we  wrote  this  chapter,  we  were  called  upon  one  morn- 
ing by  a  broken-hearted  father.  He  had  just  lost  by 
death  his  dearly  beloved  boy,  which  was  trouble 
enough  for  himself  and  his  companion  to  bear,  but  the 
sudden  blow  found  him  unprepared  financially;  and 
so  the  weeping  man  went  to  the  cemetery  association, 
a  sort  of  trust  owning  the  graveyard  plot,  and  in- 
quired about  a  place  to  bury  the  child.  He  was  told 
that  if  he  wished  the  regular  place  of  burial,  which  in 
reality  meant  a  decent  place,  he  would  be  obliged  to 
pay  some  money  in  advance.  Under  no  other  condi- 
tion could  he  bury  unless  he  were  to  take  a  place  in 
the  poverty  lot,  and  even  this  would  cost  him  a  small 
sum.  So  the  poor,  bereaved  man  started  on  a  journey 
among  his  friends  to  borrow  money  to  buy  a  lot  in  the 
cemetery.  He  found  no  little  trouble  in  getting  the 
necessary  money,  and  after  this  was  secured,  he  then 
found  himself  embarrassed  to  cover  other  necessary 
expenses  in  connection  with  the  funeral.  It  is,  in- 
deed, a  disgrace  that  a  man  must  have  added  to  his 
heart  sorrow  the  delicate  embarrassments  such  as 
above  cited.  This  is  only  one  instance,  and  it  is  a  very 
common  one,  and  always  will  be,  under  our  present 


BLESSINGS  UNDER  SOCIAL  REFORM.  251 

economic  system.  During  the  glorious  reign  of  Social 
Eeform,  all  these  inhuman  conditions  will  be  swept 
away,  and,  while  religion  will  comfort  the  sorrowing 
hearts  of  the  bereaved,  the  Co-operative  methods  will 
attend  to  all  that  relates  to  the  temporal  side. 

III.— THE  DEATH-EATE  AND  SICKNESS  WILL 
BE  DECREASED  UNDER  SOCIAL  REFORM. 

No  one  can  estimate  the  amount  of  hidden  misery 
and  suffering  that  is  existing  amongst  the  poorer 
classes  of  people,  just  because  they  dread  to  send  for 
a  physician,  knowing  that  they  cannot  afford  to  be 
sick,  yet  unable  to  avoid  it.  Many  a  case  of  sickness 
is  allowed  to  go  beyond  all  reasonable  limits  just  be- 
cause of  this  fact,  and  when  the  physician  does  come, 
he  shakes  his  head  unfavorably  and  says,  **You 
should  have  sent  for  me  sooner.''  It  frequently  hap- 
pens that  death  cannot  be  stayed.  Hardly  anybody 
would  refuse  to  send  for  a  competent  physician,  if  all 
his  services  were  rendered  free  of  charge. 

Take  a  walk  through  the  factories  and  you  will  find 
many  a  poor  sickly  person  struggling  at  his  work,  in- 
stead of  being  in  bed.  We  have  known  of  scores  of 
persons  who  were  constantly  taking  medicine,  and  yet 
continuing  their  labors  at  the  factory  in  their  miser- 
ably unfit  condition,  just  because  they  **  could  not  af- 
ford to  be  sick."  Such  conditions  are  most  convinc- 
ing proof  of  the  present  ill-ordered  state  of  society. 
We  have  often  told  such  people  that  it  would  be  better 
if  they  would  stop  work  in  time,  but  necessity  drives 
them  on  to  their  ntmost  exertion  until,  figuratively 
speaking,  they  drop  in  their  tracks;  and  then,  per- 


252  BLESSINGS  UNDER  SOCIAL  EEFOEM. 

chance,  a  worse  form  of  sickness  will  develop,  or  even 
death  itself  will  come.  Multiply  these  few  conditions 
above  mentioned  by  hundreds  of  thousands  and  you 
have  an  idea  of  the  total  picture  as  presented  in  our 
whole  country. 

Under  Social  Eef  orm  no  one  will  be  required  to  drag 
out  his  last  remnant  of  strength  in  the  cruel  struggle 
for  existence.  Neither  will  premature  death  be 
brought  about  by  the  fearful  unsanitary  conditions  in 
thousands  of  our  homes. 


IV.— CHILDEEN  WILL  BE  PEOPERLY 

PROTECTED  UNDEE  SOCIAL 

EEFOEM. 

When  the  facts  are  known,  one  shudders  at  the 
cruelties  which  children  suffer  under  our  present 
Social  System.  Laws  have  been  enacted  against  child 
labor,  and  the  public  schools  have  thrown  open  their 
doors  for  all  alike,  and  the  Christian  Church  and  Sun- 
day-school willingly  furnish  moral  and  spiritual  teach- 
ing; yet  with  all  these  advantages,  there  are  immense 
numbers  of  children  who  are  suffering  the  worst  end  of 
our  present  competitive  system.  They  are  underfed 
and  insufficiently  clothed ;  they  have*  no  home  in  the 
true  sense ;  they  simply  go  to  their  abode  at  night.  We 
refer  mainly  to  the  slum  districts  of  our  large  cities. 
We  spoke  in  the  first  chapters  of  this  book  about  the 
many  men  who  were  in  extreme  poverty.  We  must 
remember  that  lo  every  man  in  these  districts  we  must 
count  several  children,  who  are  reeking  in  the  natural 
and  moral  filth  that  surrounds  them.    These  children 


BLESSINGS  UNDER  SOCIAL  REFORM.  253 

scarcely  ever  see  a  suit  of  new  clothing  or  a  pair  of 
new  shoes.  They  roam  the  streets  from  early  morn- 
ing until  late  at  night,  and  frequently  sleep  in  the 
open  air. 

There  are  also  other  children  who  are  compelled  to 
work,  their  parents  having  declared  that  they  needed 
their  support.  To  these,  even  the  law  brings  no  com- 
fort. They  are  toiling  away  their  precious  days  of 
promise  under  the  heavy  yoke  of  industrial  oppres- 
sion. It  is  no  wonder  that  many  of  them  die  young, 
or  are  only  half  developed  as  they  enter  the  avenues 
of  advanced  life.  From  these  ranks  swarm  many  of 
the  vicious  and  vagrant  classes.  They  have  had  no 
other  training,  and  society  is  put  to  endless  annoyance 
and  expense  to  deal  with  them  in  their  more  mature 
life.  Pages  could  be  written  in  describing  the  wretch- 
edness and  other  conditions  of  these  millions  of  chil- 
dren all  over  our  country,  whose  chances  for  a  happy 
and  successful  life  are  fearfully  limited  by  their 
environment. 

Under  the  reign  of  Social  Reform,  things  will  be  en- 
tirely different;  no  child  will  be  required  to  work  to 
support  its  parents.  It  will  in  early  life  have  the  bene- 
fit of  the  best  kindergartens.  There  will  be  no  priv- 
ileged class  of  children  enjoying  these  benefits  alone, 
but  all  children  alike  will  enjoy  them;  and  later  they 
will  have  the  chance  to  obtain  a  liberal  education ;  and 
throughout  all  these  years  they  will  be  taught  to  per- 
form some  useful  kind  of  work. 

When  the  new  age  of  Social  Reform  is  upon  us,  then 
land  will  be  more  easily  secured  for  recreation  pur- 
poses and  parks  and  playgrounds  will  be  distributed 
in  happy  profusion.    Children  in  their  play  need  not 


254  BLESSINGS  UNDER  SOCIAL  REFORM. 

then  roll  in  the  dirty  alleys  of  a  city,  or  breathe  the 
dusty  atmosphere  of  the  public  street.  There  will  be 
no  slum  districts;  everybody  will  be  able  to  live  in  a 
neat,  comfortable  home,  and  with  the  better  conditions 
for  rearing  of  children,  and  the  more  favorable  oppor- 
tunities given  them  for  happiness  and  development, 
we  may  expect  that  the  future  race  will  be  decidedly 
in  advance  of  the  present. 

v.— SUNDAY  LABOR  WILL  BE  REDUCED  TO  A 
MINIMUM. 

Does  a  workingman  really  know  what  he  will  be  re- 
quired to  do  before  long,  if  he  continues  to  be  the  slave 
of  the  Capitalist?  He  will  be  obliged  to  work  seven 
days  a  week  and  just  as  many  hours  per  day  as  can  be 
forced  upon  him.  The  great  bulk  of  the  unnecessary 
Sunday  work  already  demanded  by  the  corporations 
is  one  more  evidence  of  their  inhuman  greed.  Some 
one  says  that  the  men  are  not  compelled  to  work  on 
Sunday.  True  enough;  they  can  take  their  choice, 
work  on  Sunday  or  refuse  to  work  and  be  discharged. 
In  some  instances  men  have  worked  many  years  for  a 
company  and  during  all  this  time  have  tied  themselves 
down  to  one  line  of  work,  and  for  that  reason  are  now 
able  to  earn  higher  wages  than  they  can  possibly  earn 
at  anything  else.  Suddenly  the  employer  comes  with  a 
demand  for  his  men  to  work  on  Sunday,  not  because 
the  work  is  absolutely  necessary,  but  because  more 
money  can  be  made.  This  is  the  inhuman  and  brutal 
part  of  the  whole  matter.  The  men  are  powerless  and 
have  no  way  of  seeking  redress,  providing  they  refuse 
to  comply  with  the  demand.    In  this  manner  things 


BLESSINGS  UNDER  SOCIAL  REFORM.  255 

have  been  going  from  bad  to  worse,  until  many  rail- 
roads and  other  corporations  make  scarcely  any  dis- 
tinction between  Sunday  and  the  week-day. 

Under  Social  Eeform  Sunday  will  be  a  day  of  rest. 
Just  where  the  line  will  be  drawn,  no  one  can  predict ; 
but  if  the  idea  of  profit  is  once  taken  away,  then  the 
necessity  for  work  on  Sunday  will  diminish  manifold. 
Whatever  work  must  be  done  as  an  act  of  mercy  to 
animals,  or  to  provide  for  human  needs,  that  could  not 
be  done  prior  to  Sunday,  will  be  done  on  Sunday,  and 
when  Social  Reform  commences  its  reign,  you  will 
find  that  no  man  will  be  required  to  work  on  Sunday 
more  than  a  few  hours,  except  in  extreme  cases;  and 
if  he  wishes,  he  shall  have  ample  opportunity  of  at- 
tending religious  services  the  same  day  he  works.  In- 
stead of  the  Sunday  excursions  that  are  now  de- 
manded, there  will  be  more  week  day  excursions,  and 
all  people  will  have  an  opportunity  of  sharing  suffi- 
ciently in  these  pleasures  without  being  compelled  to 
take  Sunday  for  them. 

VI.— INTEMPERANCE  WILL  BE  CHECKED 
UNDER  SOCIAL  REFORM. 

Any  conscientious  man  readily  acknowledges  that 
the  traffic  in  intoxicating  liquors  is  one  of  the  most  ter- 
rible evils  that  afflict  human  Society.  We  are  terrified 
at  the  awful  spectacle  of  debauchery  and  crime  result- 
ing from  this  monster  of  iniquity.  The  evil  of  intem- 
perance has  caused  more  disaster  than  war,  pestilence 
and  famine  combined. 

What  Herculean  efforts  have  been  made  to  over- 
throw the  curse  of  intemperance,  and  yet,  with  all  that 
has  been  accomplished,  the  evil  seems  to  be  just  as 
16 


256  BLESSINGS  UNDER  SOCIAL  EEFORM. 

black  and  withering  as  ever.  Prohibition  offers  its 
radical  remedy,  and  no  doubt  the  nation  would  be 
greatly  blessed  under  the  reign  of  a  strict  prohibitory 
law.  But  Social  Reform  does  not  urge  any  one  method 
as  a  remedy.  Each  community  will  settle  these  moral 
questions  by  a  majority  vote.  Social  Reform  itself 
will  strike  at  one  of  the  vital  roots  that  support  the 
tree  of  this  iniquity. 

Look  at  the  question  soberly  for  a  moment,  and  ask 
yourself,  what  is  the  main  cause  that  keeps  intemper- 
ance alive;  what  will  your  answer  be?  Will  you  say 
it  is  a  desire  on  the  part  of  men  to  spend  money? 
Surely  that  will  not  be  correct.  Will  you  say  it  is  the 
demand  of  people  to  gratify  a  craving  appetite?  You 
are  now  coming  nearer  to  the  solution,  and  no  doubt 
this  is  one  great  cause  of  the  evil.  But  think  of  the 
other,  the  profit  that  men  make  in  the  liquor  business! 
That  is  by  far  a  greater  cause  of  intemperance  than 
most  people  imagine.  Social  Reform  expects  to  sweep 
away  this  phase  of  the  whole  business.  It  will  no 
longer  be  profitable  for  any  person  to  make  or  sell  in- 
toxicating drinks.  The  more  you  think  of  this,  the 
more  you  are  impressed  with  the  strength  of  it  as  a 
cause  of  intemperance.  When  the  day  comes  that  a 
man  will  receive  just  as  much  at  any  other  kind  of  work 
as  at  manufacturing  and  selling  strong  drink;  or  in 
other  words,  when  no  more  strong  drink  is  made  than 
human  society  permits, — and  then  made  without  profit 
to  any  individual, — intemperance  will  receive  a  blow 
from  which  it  can  never  recover  and  do  the  evil  which 
it  is  now  doing  under  our  present  economic  system.  A 
certain  writer  said,  **Take  away  the  power  of  making 
money  by  this  traffic,  and  the  heaviest  gun  of  the 


BLESSINGS  UNDER  SOCIAL  EEFORM.  257 

enemy  is  spiked.''  Reformers  will  then  have  much 
more  chance  to  overcome  the  evils  in  connection  with 
the  depraved  appetite. 

The  profit  feature  is  the  secret  of  the  great  power 
of  the  liquor  interests  at  present.  They  have  made, 
and  are  making,  fabulous  fortunes  from  the  business ; 
and  therefore  they  hold  enough  money  to  corrupt  leg- 
islators, demoralize  jurors  and  bribe  officers  whenever 
a  necessary  emergency  arises.  The  liquor  dealers  of 
Illinois  instructed  their  new  board  of  trustees  to  spare 
neither  trouble  nor  expense  to  properly  organize  every 
senatorial  district  in  the  state,  so  that  by  the  time  of 
the  next  election  of  members  to  the  General  Assembly, 
the  business  men  engaged  in  the  liquor  trade  may  be 
thoroughly  organized  and  disciplined. 

Josiah  Strong  in  *^Our  Country '^  says,  **  Although 
the  liquor  lobby  during  the  last  forty  years  has  used 
millions  of  dollars  in  corrupt  bargaining  and  bribery, 
and  never  has  made  a  secret  of  the  fact,  yet  no  mem- 
ber was  ever  caught  in  the  act,  and,  it  is  fair  to  pre- 
sume, no  one  ever  will  be.  There  is  no  way  so  dark 
they  cannot  find  their  road  through.'' 

In  the  light  of  these  and  many  other  instances,  it  can 
be  seen  that  when  Social  Reform  destroys  private 
capital  and  therefore  eliminates  the  system  of  profit 
and  competition  in  business,  it  will  then  strike  the 
most  effective  blow  that  King  Alcohol  has  ever 
received. 

VII.— PROSTITUTION  AND  CRIME  WILL  BE 
LESSENED  UNDER  SOCIAL  REFORM. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  enter  into  any  argument  at 
length  to  prove  that  prostitution  will  also  receive  a 


258  BLESSINGS  UNDER  SOCIAL  REFORM. 

very  effective  blow  when  once  other  means  of  a  com- 
fortable livelihood  are  provided.  There  are  thousands 
of  prostitutes  who  will  gladly  engage  in  useful  work 
when  once  it  can  be  furnished  honorably,  and  when 
they  can  be  assured  that  the  employment  is  permanent 
and  profitable. 

Using  the  same  form  of  argument  we  conclude  that 
crime  in  general  will  be  lessened  under  the  reign  of 
Social  Reform.  Investigate  the  cause  of  crimes  and 
you  will  find  that  money  getting  is  at  the  bottom  of  a 
large  percentage  of  it.  When  this  incentive  no  longer 
exists,  then  much  of  the  crime  will  also  vanish. 

Such  blessings  as  are  here  mentioned  could  be  given 
to  a  wearisome  extent,  so  numerous  are  the  benefits 
that  will  flow  to  society  when  the  present  grinding, 
competitive  system  falls  to  pieces,  and  the  glorious 
reign  of  Social  Reform  takes  its  place.  In  the  next 
chapter  we  will  add  a  few  more  of  the  most  general 
blessings,  and  we  will  let  what  we  have  given  in  these 
two  chapters,  answer  for  the  complete  list. 


CHAPTEE  XXIII. 


tramps  and  ^vagrants. 


^^be  fully  care 


cared  for 


^ 


VIII.— ADULTERATION  OF  FOODS  WILL  BE 
STOPPED. 


One  of  the  greatest  evils  of  competition  is  the  adul- 
teration of  foods  and  the  manufacture  of  imperfect 
goods.  A  very  little  thought  will  make  it  clear  to  any 
person  why  this  is  true.  The  competitor  is  in  the  race 
to  make  as  much  money  as  possible,  and,  if  he  be  dis- 
honest, he  is  tempted  to  use  an  inferior  article,  so  that 
he  can  underbid  or  undersell  the  other  dealers,  who, 
up  to  this  time,  may  have  endeavored  to  be  honest. 
Has  it  occurred  to  your  mind  how  much  adulteration 

259 


260  BLESSINGS  UNDER  SOCIAL  REFORM. 

is  being  imposed  on  a  credulous  public  as  the  direct 
result  of  this  war  of  competition! 

Flour  is  adulterated  with  soapstone  and  many  other 
ingredients.  Once  in  our  life  we  had  occasion  to  travel 
by  a  mill  where  they  ground  soapstone  into  powder. 
We  saw  ton  after  ton  of  this  stone  being  hauled  to  the 
mill,  and  our  curiosity  was  aroused.  Upon  inquiry, 
we  learned  that  this  soapstone  was  used  to  adulterate 
flour,  for,  when  properly  ground,  it  had  the  same  ap- 
pearance and  weighed  heavier  than  flour.  Will  any- 
one argue  that  this  soapstone  was  used  for  the  good  of 
the  public?  The  only  conclusion  that  can  be  reached 
is  that  it  was  used  for  the  purpose  of  making  more 
money.  Soapstone  can  be  hauled  from  the  quarry  and 
ground  into  powder  for  much  less  than  good  whole- 
some flour  can  be  produced  from  wheat.  We  did  not 
ascertain  what  percentage  of  soapstone  was  used  in  a 
barrel  of  the  mixture  called  flour. 

Butter  and  sugar  are  adulterated  in  several  differ- 
ent ways.  Pepper,  cinnamon,  nutmegs  and  nearly  all 
the  spices  are  adulterated  to  a  fearful  extent.  Some 
of  these  adulterations  are  poisonous,  but  certain 
dealers  have  no  compunctions  of  conscience  over  small 
things  like  that.  Every  housewife  knows  that  there 
is  pure  lard  and  adulterated  lard.  What  has  been 
said  about  the  preceding  articles  of  food  is  also  true 
concerning  nearly  all  the  other  manufactured  food 
stuffs,  such  as  baking  powder,  extracts  of  all  kinds; 
also  certain  kinds  of  soap  are  cheapened  by  low  grade 
chemicals  to  add  to  their  odor  and  beauty  of 
appearance. 

Liquors  and  wines  are  adulterated  to  a  fearful  ex- 
tent.   A  noted  chemist  found  five  kinds  of  poison  in  a 


BLESSINGS  UNDER  SOCIAL  REFORM.  261 

certain  beer  he  analyzed.  A  San  Francisco  chemist, 
who  analyzed  samples  of  the  different  kinds  of  wines 
used  in  that  city,  found  that  most  of  them  were  colored 
with  dyes  of  the  most  poisonous  character.  He  found 
that  pieces  of  flannel  and  silk  could  be  dyed  by  simply 
dipping  them  in  samples  of  the  wine. 

Another  kind  of  fraud  is  practiced  in  the  manufac- 
ture of  all  kinds  of  wearing  and  household  fabrics. 
Unreliable  firms  are  constantly  placing  on  the  market 
inferior  articles  for  the  sole  purpose  of  gaining  to 
themselves  a  larger  revenue;  sometimes  it  pays  and 
sometimes  it  does  not  pay,  for  it  all  depends  upon  how 
far  a  man  can  go  before  he  is  detected.  Consider  for  a 
moment  the  character  of  footwear  that  is  placed  upon 
the  market.  See  the  enormous  amount  of  waste  just 
because  the  people  have  the  privilege  of  buying  cheap 
shoes.  It  costs  almost  as  much  in  labor  to  make  cheap 
shoes  as  to  make  good  ones  and  therefore  it  costs  much 
more  for  the  poor  family  to  buy  three  pairs  of  cheap 
shoes  than  one  pair  of  good  ones.  Why  are  shoes 
made  with  paper  soles  and  with  shoddy  leather?  It 
is  another  trick  of  the  manufacturer  to  gain  a  point 
in  close  bidding.  Some  will  put  the  blame  on  the 
buyer,  but  the  entire  trouble  is  in  the  false  system 
under  which  we  are  living. 

The  same  facts  are  true  concerning  hosiery.  The 
gpsat  bulk  of  children's  hose  that  is  put  upon  the  mar- 
ket is  not  fit  to  leave  the  factory.  It  looks  nice  and 
has  a  clear  stamp  upon  it,  and  is  beautifully  dyed,  but 
the  material  is  rotten  and  falls  apart  after  very  little 
wear.  Of  course,  many  a  mother  puts  the  blame  upon 
the  child.  Under  the  reign  of  Christian  Socialism, 
there   would   be   no   need   of   manufacturing   rotten 


262  BLESSINGS  UNDER  SOCIAL  REFORM. 

hosiery.  It  will  cost  no  more  for  the  making  of  good 
ones  than  poor  ones,  and  the  difference  in  material 
will  be  gladly  furnished  by  an  interested  public. 

This  line  of  thought  could  be  carried  on  indefinitely, 
until  we  would  cover  more  than  one-half  of  all  the 
articles  manufactured.  The  evils  of  adulteration  and 
inferior  manufacture  are  so  great  that  every  citizen 
ought  to  be  aroused.  Pure  food  laws  have  overcome 
much  of  the  first  evil,  but  what  has  been  done  and  what 
can  be  done  to  overcome  the  second  evil?  As  long  as 
free  competition  is  amongst  us,  we  may  expect  to  be 
annoyed,  to  a  more  or  less  extent,  with  the  evils  here 
mentioned. 


IX.— THE  TBAMP  AND  VAGEANT  NUISANCE 
WILL  BE  ABOLISHED. 

The  army  of  tramps  is  the  largest  that  ever  moved 
on  the  face  of  the  earth,  and  fortunately,  it  is  organ- 
ized only  in  small  scattered  companies  that  have  their 
rendezvous  in  the  outskirts  of  the  cities.  Under  our 
present  system,  it  is  a  very  serious  problem  to  know 
how  to  deal  with  this  ever  moving  army  of  vagrants. 
Many  suggestions  have  been  made  and  theories  ad- 
vanced, and  a  number  of  ways  have  been  tried  to  over- 
come the  tramp  evil.  It  must  be  admitted  that  the 
problem  is  far  from  being  solved,  and  the  tramps  are 
still  ever  near  our  doors.  In  times  of  so  called  pros- 
perity, the  number  is  not  so  large;  in  times  of  panic 
the  number  naturally  increases. 

The  evils  that  flow  from  the  existence  of  this  shift- 
less army  are  numerous.    They  are  a  menace  to  the 


BLESSINGS  UNDER  SOCIAL  REFORM.  263 

highway  traveler;  a  few  of  them  estimate  their  own 
lives  as  of  little  value,  and  therefore,  they  are  willing 
to  take  any  risk  to  steal  or  plmider. 

Under  the  reign  of  Christian  Socialism,  it  will  be 
just  as  illegal  for  a  man  to  beg  from  door  to  door  as 
for  a  man  to  steal  from  door  to  door ;  and  if  it  should 
happen  that  a  tramp  would  appear,  he  would  be  com- 
pelled to  go  either  of  two  places — a  hospital  or  a  work- 
shop, whichever  place  would  best  suit  his  condition. 
There  will  be  no  necessity  for  any  man  to  beg,  for  the 
simple  reason  that  every  man,  woman  and  child  will  be 
guaranteed  the  necessities  of  life,  and  any  man  who 
is  able  to  work  and  tries  to  escape  it,  ought  to  be 
treated  as  a  criminal,  and  everybody  in  all  ranks  of 
society  should  say  Amen  to  this. 

It  will  be  a  glorious  deliverance  for  Society  when 
several  million  evaders  of  work  will  be  required  to  do 
their  share  to  keep  the  wheels  of  industry  going, 
aDd  to  supply  themselves  with  the  necessaries  of  life 
under  a  system  that  will  provide  fair  returns  for  la- 
bor. The  manner  in  which  the  public  is  imposed  upon 
by  a  certain  class  of  vagrants  is  astonishing.  We  know 
of  one  tramp,  who,  after  reading  of  several  miners  be- 
ing burned  in  an  explosion,  burned  his  own  leg  with 
acid  and  bandaged  it.  He  then  started  to  beg  in  a 
neighboring  town,  and  people,  having  read  of  the  acci- 
dent, gladly  helped  the  poor,  unfortunate  fellow. 
Similar  cases  of  imposture  could  be  cited  by  the  hun- 
dred. Society  can  well  draw  a  sigh  of  relief  when  our 
system  of  economics  will  be  so  adjusted  that  it  will  be 
ten-fold  more  difficult  than  now  to  play  the  part  of  a 
tramp  or  of  an  impostor.    This  will  come  when  every- 


264  BLESSINGS  UNDER  SOCIAL  REFORM. 

body  is  positively  assured  that  no  one  is  in  need  of 
private  charity. 

X.— THE  AGED  AND  THE  UNFORTUNATE 
WILL  BE  CARED  FOR. 

Under  our  present  system,  it  is  commendable  that 
private  and  public  charity  has  instituted  so  many 
homes  for  the  aged  and  so  many  hospitals  for  the  sick 
and  injured;  and  yet,  with  all  this  provision,  there  is 
much  humiliation  and  suffering  among  the  alBBicted 
which  ought  not  to  exist.  How  many  an  aged  man  or 
woman  is  working  like  a  slave,  and  using  the  last  rem- 
nant of  his  strength  to  gain  a  livelihood,  just  because 
he  has  no  other  means  of  support.  This  condition  re- 
veals to  us  one  of  the  most  barbarous  aspects  of  our 
present  civilization.  Also  think  of  the  number  of  aged 
and  infirm  that  are  unwelcome  at  the  home  of  a  son-in- 
law  or  of  a  daughter-in-law,  but  who  prefer  to  suffer 
this  embarrassment  rather  than  to  go  to  the  alms- 
house. Why  is  there  such  a  dread  of  the  alms- 
house? Anyone  who  has  investigated  this  matter  can 
easily  answer  the  question.  We  remember  some  ob- 
servations we  made  and  some  tales  we  heard  that  have 
been  sufficient  to  create  in  our  own  hearts  a  living 
dread  of  the  very  place  that  should  be  sacredly  man- 
aged by  the  state. 

There  are  sometimes  hundreds  of  persons  in  one  of 
these  institutions,  and  they  are  cared  for  by  only  a  few 
attendants.  It  is  indeed  pitiful  to  see  how  some  of 
these  old  people  are  treated  just  because  there  are  not 
enough  attendants  to  take  care  of  them  properly,  and 
in  some  cases  because  there  is  a  beastly  heart  at  the 


^ 


266 


266  BLESSINGS  UNDEB  SOCIAL  REFORM. 

head  of  the  institution.  We  have  heard  from  reliable 
sources  of  old  people  who  had  fallen  out  of  bed  at 
night,  and  were  compelled  to  lie  there  over  three  hours 
before  they  received  assistance ;  and  we  have  heard  of 
others  who  were  beaten  because  they  did  not  jump  to 
the  whims  of  the  keepers ;  and  then,  the  most  shocking 
of  all,  it  was  the  question  for  a  long  time  at  a  certain 
poorhouse,  where  the  bodies  of  the  unclaimed  dead 
were  taken.  The  fact  finally  leaked  out  that  these 
bodies,  instead  of  being  decently  buried  or  cremated, 
were  sent  to  the  ^Vaf  at  a  large  medical  college. 

Just  as  pitiable  is  the  condition  of  the  unfortunate 
in  affliction;  those  who  are  permanently  crippled,  the 
blind,  the  deaf,  the  sick  and  every  other  such  class  of 
human  beings.  Nothing  but  words  of  commendation 
should  be  spoken  of  the  efforts  that  have  been  put 
forth  by  the  state  to  alleviate  the  sufferings  and  im- 
prove the  condition  of  these  afflicted  classes.  Yet  with 
all  this  there  is  no  adequate  provision  made  for  the 
support  of  a  crippled  man  and  his  family.  Have  you 
ever  seen  the  bitter  extremes  of  want  and  sorrow  in 
the  severe  weather  in  these  latitudes?  Such  suffering 
is  all  unnecessary,  and  under  the  reign  of  Christian  So- 
cialism it  will  be  eliminated,  for  the  helpless  will  be  en- 
titled to  support  the  same  as  the  worker.  The  expense 
required  to  support  the  helpless  and  the  aged  will  fall 
upon  Society  in  general,  and  each  person  will  bear  his 
equal  share  of  this  burden,  and  he  will  be  surprised  to 
see  how  light  his  share  will  be  when  that  golden  era 
comes.  The  aged  men  and  women  will  go  on  their  life- 
long vacation  at  the  age  of  sixty  or  before.  They  will 
have  earned  by  that  time  their  rest.  It  is  true  enough 
that  some  people  are  more  miserable  when  they  are 


BLESSINGS  UNDER  SOCIAL  REFORM.  267 

idle,  than  when  they  are  working,  but  the  time  will 
never  come  when  a  man  will  be  punished  for  working, 
SO  that  if  a  person  who  is  over  sixty  years  of  age  pre- 
fers to  work  as  a  matter  of  pleasure,  there  will  be  no 
objections  offered,  and  he  will  always  live  in  the  happy 
thought  that  when  he  cares  no  more  to  work,  or  is  un- 
able to  work,  there  will  be  ample  provision  for  his 
support  and  comfort. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 


^^  /^^^j.y/.^ 


^^Much^waste  /^  /  / 
fwill  be  eliminated, '  > 

.^Advertisin^.^^^ 

Selling  Goods/ )^ 

istribution.  //^ 


s 


COf^OLUDBD  y 


l^h  ^^\\\/,r-^ 


C  ^  Msinu(a.ttunngy, 


>-;  Insurance,  yy/ 


'c^lh-ZMU/^d. 


XI.  MUCH  WASTE  WILL  BE  ELIMINATED. 

Some  one  has  said  that  nine-tenths  of  the  energy- 
exerted  to-daj  is  utterly  wasted.  No  doubt  this  is  ex- 
aggerated, but  the  estimate  can  be  reduced  consider- 
ably from  nine-tenths  and  yet  present  a  terrible  con- 
dition to  us.  The  present  system  of  capitalism  with 
its  natural  competition,  produces  more  waste  than 
one  imagines.  Even  to  him  who  studies  the  situation, 
only  a  part  of  this  great  waste  is  apparent.  It  is 
argued  by  some  that  unnecessary  work  is  a  blessing, 
because  it  gives  employment  to  many  who  would  be 
otherwise  unemployed.  We  answer  by  saying  that  if 
we  were  to  continue  under  our  present  system,  the 

268 


BLESSINGS  UNDER  SOCIAL  REFORM.  269 

more  waste  we  have,  the  better  it  is  for  our  working 
people.  If  we  could  have  ten  newspapers  in  a  town  in- 
stead of  three,  it  would  be  better  because  it  would  give 
employment  to  more  people,  and  so  we  might  say  re- 
garding any  other  kind  of  industry. 

1. — The  Waste  of  Advertising. 

Has  it  ever  dawned  upon  the  mind  of  the  reader 
what  immense  fortunes  are  squandered  every  year 
for  advertising  purposes.  It  is  estimated  that  over 
3,000,000  dollars  a  day  is  expended  for  advertising  in 
the  United  States.  The  sad  part  is  not  that  the  money 
is  wasted,  but  that  the  labor  is  wasted.  Advertising 
as  we  see  it  in  modem  business  methods  is  not  one  of 
the  essentials  of  life;  it  is  rather  one  of  the  black 
marks  of  oiur  present  industrial  system.  Under  the 
fearful  struggle  of  competition  as  we  now  have  it,  ad- 
v-ertising  is  necessary,  and  therefore,  between  500,000 
and  1,000,000  men  are  working  continually  to  produce 
nothing  essential  to  our  well-being.  This  great  army 
of  workmen  is  composed  of  **ad'*  writers,  solicitors, 
collectors,  paper  manufacturers,  bill  posters,  artists, 
lithographers  and  printers,  to  say  nothing  of  the  large 
numbers  needed  to  run  the  necessary  machinery  for 
local  and  general  transportation.  You  must  think  of 
this  for  a  while  before  the  greatness  of  the  facts  will 
dawn  upon  your  mind.  It  requires  no  argument  to 
prove  that  this  great  waste  will  be  eliminated  undel 
the  reign  of  true  Socialism.  The  products  will  be  made 
not  for  the  purpose  of  private  gain,  but  for  the  pur- 
pose of  giving  to  each  individual  the  best  material  that 


270  BLESSINGS  UNDER  SOCIAL  REFORM. 

the  world  can  produce.  There  will  be  no  need  of  a 
thousand  firms  each  declaring  that  its  goods  are  the 
purest  and  the  best;  the  government  stamp  of  Social 
Reform  on  a  manufactured  article  will  be  sufficient. 


2. — The  Waste    of  Selling  Goods. 

One  more  of  the  foolish  results  of  competition  is  the 
immense  amount  of  labor  wasted  in  selling  products. 
Each  firm  that  manufactures  goods  must  send  out  from 
a  few  to  thousands  of  agents,  consequently,  we  have  a 
large  number  of  drygoods  agents,  shoe  agents,  grocery 
agents,  and  numberless  other  kinds  of  agents  swarm- 
ing each  community  throughout  the  length  and  breadth 
of  the  land.  It  is  amusing  to  certain  grocers  to  witness 
the  incoming  of  eight  or  nine  agents  in  one  forenoon. 
Each  one  of  these  men  travels  from  place  to  place,  and 
spends  all  his  time  in  the  mad  rush  to  get  ahead  of  the 
next  fellow.  Looking  at  the  whole  army  of  drummers, 
it  presents  one  of  the  most  expensive  and  yet  necessary 
features  of  competition,  and  tells  the  story  of  waste 
that  is  very  difficult  to  calculate.  It  is  safe  to  say  that 
there  are  400,000  drummers  uselessly  employed,  but, 
of  course,  all  are  necessary  under  our  present  non- 
sensical system. 

3. — Waste  of  Distribution. 

This  opens  to  our  view  the  large  number  of  com- 
petitive industries,  both  small  and  great,  and  reveals 
one  of  the  most  fearful  pictures  of  waste  that  can  be 
imagined.    In  Boston-  there  are  about  350  drygoods 


BLESSINGS  UNDER  SOCIAL  EEFORM.  271 

stores,  nearly  500  shoe  stores,  1,500  grocery  stores, 
and  nearly  3,000  saloons,  besides  several  thousand 
other  places  of  business.  Figure  a  moment  and  see 
what  an  immense  amount  of  labor  is  expended  to  carry 
on  the  work  of  distributing  goods  to  the  people  of 
Boston.  Under  Social  Eeform  it  would  require  no 
more  than  twenty-five,  or  less,  general  stores  located 
to  the  best  advantage  geographically,  to  supply  suffi- 
ciently every  family  of  Boston.  Any  school  boy  is 
able  to  see  that  the  labor  of  many  thousands  of  people 
is  required  to  do  the  work  of  distributing  goods  just 
because  we  blindly  enjoy  the  system  of  competition. 
Take  any  large  city,  and  we  find  that  scores  of  milk 
wagons  come  into  it,  each  one  covering  many  miles  of 
streets,  and  spending  from  three  to  nine  hours  a  day 
to  cover  its  route.  Under  Social  Eeform  there  would 
be  needed  about  one-fifth  as  many  vehicles  or  perhaps 
less,  and  each  one  would  supply  a  certain  district  ex- 
clusively. This  waste  of  labor  in  selling  milk  does  not 
seem  so  great  by  itself,  but  it  is  only  one  instance  of 
many  similar  ones  coming  under  the  head  of  distribu- 
tion of  goods,  such  as  meat,  laundry,  ice  and  coal. 


4. — The  Waste  in  the  Legal  World. 

There  are  now  practicing  in  the  United  States 
nearly  100,000  lawyers,  and  nearly  as  many  clerks,  to 
carry  on  the  work  of  the  legal  profession.  We  do  not 
presume  to  say  that  all  sin  will  be  abolished  under  any 
kind  of  Social  Eeform,  but  we  do  wish  to  affirm  that 
there  will  be  much  less  crime  under  the  new  system 
of  economics,  when  there  will  be  no  more  vagrants  or 
17 


272  BLESSINGS  UNDEE  SOCIAL  REFOEM. 

tramps  and  when  many  other  curses  have  been 
changed  into  blessings.  In  that  golden  age  lawyers 
will  be  the  servants  of  the  people  the  same  as  any 
other  kind  of  workers,  and  it  will  not  be  to  the  advant- 
age of  a  lawyer  to  win  a  case  and  thereby  get  a  larger 
fee.  Just  how  many  lawyers  will  be  required  to  carry 
on  all  necessary  prosecution  and  trial  is  hard  to  say, 
but  one  thing  is  certain,  the  army  can  be  cut  down  to 
a  fraction  of  the  present  number. 

5. — The  Waste  of  Insueancb. 

Many  fabulous  fortunes  are  spent  annually  to  main- 
tain life,  fire  and  accident  insurance  companies.  We 
do  not  wish  to  disparage  the  good  that  is  being  done 
by  these  organizations.  We  only  wish  to  say  that  It 
will  be  a  happy  day  for  society  when  all  these  orgSiQ- 
izations  will  be  sleeping  under  their  tombstone.  Th«3y 
are  the  fifth  wheel  of  the  wagon,  and,  under  proper 
economic  conditions,  just  as  needless  as  for  a  person 
to  wear  three  shoes  instead  of  two.  Under  true  Social 
Eeform,  no  man  or  his  family  will  be  in  want.  One  of 
the  first  duties  of  society  will  be  to  give  to  every  one 
the  necessities  of  life,  whether  the  head  of  the  family 
is  able  to  work  or  not,  whether  he  is  dead  or  alive,  to. 
one  sense,  society  owes  a  living  to  each  individual,  but 
society  should  see  to  it  that  each  person,  able  to  work, 
will  do  his  share  to  get  it.  So  it  shall  happen  when 
the  new  economic  system  is  established,  that  the  hun- 
dreds of  thousands  of  men  who  are  employed  in  all 
kinds  of  insurance  companies  will  be  engaged,  less 
hours  per  day  in  one  of  the  necessary  channels  of 
trade. 


blessings  under  social  refoem.  273 

6. — The  Waste  of  Competition  in  Manufacturing. 

It  is  estimated  that  the  waste  due  to  competition  in 
manufacturing,  both  in  duplication  of  plants  and  in 
methods  of  selling,  is  equal  to  ten  per  cent,  of  the  pro- 
duct. This  in  round  numbers  would  amount  to  $7,000,- 
000  a  day.  It  staggers  one  at  first  thought,  and  the 
mind  is  amazed  as  this  truth  dawns  more  fully 
upon  it. 

7. — Convict  Waste. 

This  is  one  more  of  the  many  senseless  provisions 
of  our  present  system  of  government.  A  man  is  ar- 
rested for  crime,  he  is  sentenced  to  jail  or  penitentiary, 
and  the  law-abiding  citizens  are  supposed  to  clothe 
and  feed  him  and  keep  him  warm,  and  pay  somebody 
to  look  after  his  needs.  Under  Social  Reform  convict 
labor  will  be  a  blessing,  inasmuch  as  it  will  help  to 
produce  some  of  the  very  things  that  the  people  need, 
and  thus  bear  its  share  of  the  burdens  of  a  co-opera- 
tive community.  In  that  day,  a  man  in  the  peniten- 
tiary will  be  required  to  work  from  eight  to  twelve 
hours  a  day ;  and  he  must  work  if  he  is  able.  This  will 
be  the  kind  of  a  place  that  men  will  go  to  who  are 
guilty  of  crime,  or  who  cannot  be  made  to  work  prop- 
erly otherwise.  They  will  be  put  under  the  coercive 
work  of  public  institutions.  All  this  labor  done  by 
convicts  will  help  to  lighten  the  labor  of  every  man 
who  is  not  a  convict.  Does  that  not  seem  like 
a  sensible  proposition,  or  do  you  prefer  to  work 
a  little  harder  and  longer  to  keep  the  criminal  without 
working?    Take  your  choice. 

The  foregoing  seven  kinds  of  waste  are  by  no  means 


274  BLESSINGS  UNDER  SOCIAL  REFORM. 

all  that  might  be  mentioned.  It  is  only  a  hint  at  the 
enormous  loss  under  our  present  system.  Take  a  pic- 
ture of  the  whole  country,  and  counting  labor  at  a 
reasonable  value,  the  total  amount  of  all  our  waste 
under  the  present  system,  aggregates  the  enormous 
sum  of  nearly  $50,000,000  a  day.  Do  not  doubt 
these  figures  until  you  have  looked  into  the  matter 
carefully.  The  longer  you  study  and  investigate,  the 
more  rapidly  you  will  find  your  figures  mounting  up 
to  the  $50,000,000  mark,  and  if  you  are  a  capital- 
ist, you  will  soon  stop  your  figuring  in  the  fear  that 
your  discovery  will  take  you  beyond  the  above 
estimate. 

What  is  the  meaning  of  the  $50,000,000  a  day  waste! 
It  means  that  the  workers  must  bind  themselves  down 
to  slavery  in  order  that  this  great  waste  may  be  main- 
tained; in  other  words,  we  are  called  upon  to  labor 
the  same  now  as  the  penitentiary  convicts  will  be  called 
upon  to  labor  under  the  reign  of  Social  Eeform. 

Do  you  wish  to  enter  into  the  full  enjoyment  of  the 
liberties  that  ought  to  be  yours?  Then  break  away 
from  the  chains  that  bind  you  and  express  yourself 
where  it  will  count  the  most — at  the  ballot  box  in  a 
true  municipal  reform  movement  or  in  any  national 
movement  that  seeks  the  same  ends. 


f 


cS 


The  Death  op  the  Rich  Sinner. — The  curse  of  riches  is  seen  when  a 
man  will  cling  to  them  with  a  dying  grip.  The  rich  sinner  has  a  burden  of 
sin  and  sometimes  sickness  which  he  will  not,  or  cannot,  shake  off. 


The  Death  of  the  Poor  Christian. — The  honest  man,  poor  or  rich, 
at  death  will  leave  all  his  burdens  behind,  and  instead  of  having  weights  to 
drag  him  down,  there  will  be  angels  in  a  chariot  to  lift  him  upward. 


CHAPTEE  XXV. 


After  being  preached  and  worshipped  for  almost 
twenty  centuries,  the  most  misinterpreted  character 
in  the  world  to-day  is  Jesus  Christ.  He  was  bom  in 
an  obscure  corner  of  the  earth,  yet  a  guiding  star  and 
heavenly  choirs  honored  His  birth.  Christ  was  reared 
in  holiness,  and  in  the  fullness  of  time  His  great  fore- 
runner, John  the  Baptist,  proclaimed  His  coming. 
Suddenly  He  appeared  and  blazed  forth  with  a  new 
light  and  life,  and  made  such  a  mighty  impression  that 
all  human  time  was  numbered  anew  from  His  birth. 
Jle  taught  for  all  ages,  and  it  will  require  all  the  ages 
to  show  His  completeness.  By  some  He  is  worshipped 
as  a  religious  teacher  only;  by  others  He  is  looked 
upon  as  the  world's  Eedeemer,  a  personal  Savior,  as 

277 


278  CHKIST  AND  SOCIAL  EEFORM. 

a  ^^friend  that  sticketh  closer  than  a  brother-/*  and 
still  by  others  as  a  guiding  star  to  the  world  *s  peace, 
— ^not  only  religious  but  civil  and  industrial  peace  as 
well. 

The  idea  of  pure  Socialism  is  a  divine  thought  born 
of  Heaven,  and  is  to  be  realized  upon  earth.  Its  ear- 
liest light  was  seen  when  Christ  spake  to  the  multi- 
tudes, and  to  His  immediate  followers.  They  under- 
stood in  part  what  He  said,  but  a  more  complete  in- 
terpretation of  His  life  and  teachings  was  left  to  un- 
born generations.  The  early  church,  trying  to  follow 
the  teaching  of  Jesus,  first  lived  in  a  state  of  approxi- 
mate Communism,  which  is  a  partial  interpretation 
of  ** Communion  of  Saints.''  We  have  but  little  light 
on  this  early  type  of  Co-operation.  It  appears  to  have 
been  soon  overwhelmed  with  the  selfishness  of  the  age, 
even  before  human  society  had  a  chance  to  try  or  test 
the  early  Christian  Socialism.  The  sad  growth  of 
competition,  and  the  thorny  vines  of  human  greed  soon 
over-ran  the  fair  garden  of  promise  until  the  life  of 
the  Heavenly  plant  was  choked  out  by  these  noxious 
weeds.  Thus  was  the  second  Eden  lost,  and  those 
who  were  to  occupy  it,  were  thrown  out  upon  the  wild 
waste  of  a  barren  Social  life,  and  ever  since  that  time, 
the  church  and  the  world  have  been  mutually  suffering 
under  the  grinding  processes  of  hard  labor,  and  as  a 
result,  the  rich  are  growing  richer  and  the  poor  poorer. 
Will  the  dream  of  human  brotherhood  ever  be 
realized  upon  earth?  This  is  a  practical  question,  and 
is  waiting  for  an  answer  in  the  world  and  the  church 
of  to-day.  One  of  the  strangest  aspects  of  the  Twen- 
tieth Century  will  be  the  rallying  from  the  ranks  of 
the  church  and  the  world  under  the  banners  of  Chris- 


CHRIST  AND  SOCIAL  REFORM, 


279 


tian  Socialism,  and  this  will  bring  to  the  earth  the 
greatest  industrial  peace,  rest  and  contentment  that 
has  ever  been  known. 

Let  us  draw  back  the  curtain  of  ages  and  look  care- 
fully at  that  marvelous  light  and  then  ask :  *  ^  What  are 
the  principles  of  the  perfect  Social  State  as  taught  by 
Christ,  the  world's  greatest  reformer  and  spiritual 
leader  r' 

1. — Christ  Taught  That  Selfishness  is  Death. 

Christ  said,  *^  Whosoever  will  save  his  life  shall  lose 
if  He  embodied  a  world  of  thought  in  these  few 
words.  All  man's  effort  for  himself  will  fail  unless 
he  is  planning  and  working  in  harmony  with  the  will 
of  God.  The  way  of  selfishness  is  one  of  the  shortest 
roads  to  destruction,  and  he  who  narrows  his  life  to 
winning  his  own  personal  ends,  is  not  only  a  loser,  but 
he  is  even  committing  personal  suicide. 

Selfishness  is  the  ruling  principle  in  all  the  natural 
and  business  life  of  the  world.  Nearly  everything  is 
based  upon  each  one  looking  after  his  own  interests. 
All  this  is  a  natural  concomitant  of  our  Social  system, 
and  will  only  be  eliminated  when  the  better  laws  of 
Social  Eeform  are  in  force. 

2. — Christ  Taught  That  Unselfishness  and 
Benevolence  are  Blessed. 

The  dangers  of  life  lie  along  the  line  of  selfishness, 
and  a  man  is  not  as  likely  to  give  away  too  much  as  he 
is  to  keep  too  much.    For  that  reason  Christ  made  no 


280  CHRIST  AND  SOCIAL  EEFORM. 

mistake  when  he  promised  a  blessing  to  the  liberal- 
hearted  man.  How  few  people  there  are  who  will  ap- 
pear truly  benovelent  when  we  have  an  opportunity 
to  study  the  motive  back  of  their  gifts.  In  some  cases 
we  can  see  that  the  giver  is  expecting  something 
in  return;  and  again  we  see  that  others  are 
seeking  notoriety  or  personal  glory;  while  very  few 
have  as  their  chief  aim  the  glory  of  God  or  the  good 
of  their  fellows.  For  that  reason  Christ  taught  the 
superior  virtue  of  expecting  nothing  in  return  when 
we  give  to  the  poor.  He  said  at  one  place,  *  ^  Sell  that  ye 
have  and  give  alms. ' '  The  world  has  found  more  fault 
with  this  passage  than  it  has  with  the  other,  which  is  a 
maxim  of  the  world,  *^Get  all  you  can  and  keep  it.*' 
Our  hearts  should  be  so  trained  in  love  that  we  could 
give  testimony  to  the  truth,  *^It  is  more  blessed  to 
give  than  to  receive.**  There  will  be  no  danger  of 
society  going  to  smash  if  these  beautiful  maxims  of 
truth  are  observed.  If  the  spirit  to  obey  these  su- 
perior laws  were  manifested,  there  would  also  be 
present  an  opportunity  for  everybody  to  earn  a  re- 
spectable living;  for  love,  when  it  flows  on  the  one 
side,  will  also  operate  on  the  other. 

Christ  said,  **  Whosoever  will  lose  his  life  for  my 
sake,  shall  find  it.'*  This  means  that  no  man  takes 
a  risk  when  he  apparently  loses  for  Christ.  The  man 
who,  with  a  pure  motive,  makes  a  great  sacrifice  for 
Christ  and  truth,  will  only  make  himself  richer  in  the 
life  to  come,  and  the  man  who  lays  down  his  life,  or 
risks  his  life  in  the  service  of  Christ,  shall  also  win 
a  greater  reward  in  the  life  to  come.  When  Living- 
stone and  Stanley  left  civilization  with  its  joys  and 
advantages  and  buried  themselves  in  the  jungles  of 


CHRIST  AND  SOCIAL  REFORM.  281 

Africa,  they  found  that  their  apparent  loss  only 
worked  for  their  great  gain.  They  came  out  to  find 
that  they  were  esteemed  as  the  world  *s  heroes,  and 
that  the  nations  were  waiting  to  crown  them  as  no 
men  were  ever  crowned  who  have  not  laid  down  their 
lives  for  others.  Such  blessings  always  follow  true 
unselfishness  and  liberality.  Every  true  sacrifice 
finds  its  reward  either  in  this  life  or  the  life  to  come. 
How  much  good  could  be  accomplished  by  the  de- 
ceived men  of  wealth,  if  they  would  but  devote  their 
fortunes  to  the  uplifting  of  society  instead  of  the  up- 
lifting of  themselves  and  possibly  the  destruction  of 
their  own  heirs. 


3. — Christ  Taught  That  Life  Has  Worthier  Aims 
Than  Wealth. 

When  Christ  said,  **A  man's  life  consisteth  not  in 
the  abundance  of  the  things  which  he  possesseth,'' 
He  made  a  declaration  for  all  time.  To  the  man  of 
the  world,  this  thought  is,  indeed,  a  revelation,  just 
as  new  to  him  now  as  it  was  to  the  people  almost 
twenty  centuries  ago.  Our  present  system  of  compe- 
tition pushes  all  forward  in  the  mad  race  to  grab  all 
they  can.  If  any  man  of  fair  judgment  will  interpret 
this  wild  rush  of  our  business  life,  what  will  his  ver- 
dict be?  Must  he  not  decide  that  the  people  are  act- 
ing directly  contrary  to  the  teachings  of  Christ?  They 
are  acting  as  if  their  life  did  consist  in  the  abundance 
of  the  things  which  they  possess,  or  would  like  to 
possess. 

How  long  will  it  take  the  world  to  wake  up  to  the 


282  CHRIST  AND  SOCIAL  ItEFORM. 

lofty  conception  of  Christ,  that  the  nobler  things  in 
life  are  more  worthy  of  our  attainment  than  the  mere 
things  that  perish  and  decay  sometimes  even  with  the 
use  of  them?  When  Social  Reform  comes,  the  world 
will  have  more  chance  to  take  a  breath,  and  give  more 
attention  to  the  voice  of  God.  When  men  can  once  be 
convinced  that  they  need  not  give  their  body,  soul  and 
spirit  for  the  support  of  themselves  and  their  families, 
and  that  they  need  not  be  compelled  to  lay  up  for  a 
** rainy  day,''  then  there  will  be  more  opportunity  for 
people  to  see  that  it  is  possible  to  be  rich  without  gold, 
and  happy  without  much  material  possession. 

4. — Christ   Forbids   the   Hoarding   of   Wealth. 

'^Lay  not  up  for  yourselves  treasure  on  earth.'' 
This  is  a  very  direct  *  command  and  indicates  very 
clearly  that  wealth  is  not  to  be  centered  in  the  hands 
of  a  few.  Such  declarations  like  this  are  very  ob- 
noxious to  the  rich,  and  to  those  whose  principle  aim 
is  to  become  rich.  At  many  places  Christ  draws  sharp 
contrasts  between  the  rich  and  the  poor. 

**  Blessed  be  ye  poor        ^^Woe  unto  you  that 
for  your's  is  the  King-     are  rich." 
dom  of  God." 

**  Blessed  are  ye  that  *'Woe  unto  you  that 
hunger  now:  for  ye  are  full;  for  ye  shall 
shall  be  filled. ' '  hunger. ' ' 

Christ  also  said,  *^The  spirit  of  the  Lord  is  upon 


CHKIST  AND  SOCIAL  KEFORM.  283 

me,  because  He  hath  anointed  me  to  preach  the  Gos- 
pel to  the  poor.''  Just  how  much  property  it  is  pos- 
sible for  a  man  to  hold  in  His  name,  and  yet  be  poor 
within  the  meaning  of  Christ,  is  very  difficult  to  de- 
termine. Christ  was  the  most  fearless  teacher  that 
ever  lived.  He  knew  that  no  power  on  earth  could 
destroy  Him,  and  that  He  had  a  home  eternal  in  the 
Heavens,  and  therefore,  He  spake  without  holding 
any  bribe  in  His  hand.  He  offered  no  apology  to  the 
worshippers  of  the  ^* Mammon  of  unrighteousness.'' 
He  saw  that  riches  were  destructive,  and  not  fearing 
the  comment  of  all  ages  to  come,  He  told  the  rich 
young  ruler,  ^^Wouldst  thou  be  perfect,  sell  that  thou 
hast  and  give  to  the  poor." 

There  are  certain  passages  in  the  New  Testament 
that  make  reference  to  the  rich  and  the  poor  in  an  in- 
direct way,  and  certain  men  of  wealth  have  taken 
these  to  mean  that  riches  are  sanctioned  by  Christ. 
This  is  an  absurd  interpretation  of  Scripture,  and 
while  we  will  not  be  extreme  enough  to  say  that 
all  rich  people  are  wicked  people,  yet  we  will  be  plain 
enough  to  say  that  it  is  difficult  for  a  person  to  have 
and  to  hold  great  riches,  and,  at  the  same  time,  com- 
ply with  the  simple  and  plain  teachings  of  Jesus 
Christ.  His  teachings  strike  a  terrific  blow  at  Capi- 
talism. The  saddest  part  of  the  whole  story  is  that 
the  selfish  hoarder  of  wealth  will  see,  when  it  is  too 
late,  that  he  has  been  blinded  by  the  sophistry  of 
Satan.  His  eyes  will  be  opened  to  see  his  own  folly 
when  he  stands  before  God  to  give  an  account  of  his 
stewardship  in  the  body.  Neither  is  the  poor  man 
exempt  from  these  laws.  If  the  principle  of  the  poor 
man  is  wrong,  and  he  is  poor  just  because  he  cannot 


284  CHRIST  AND   SOCIAL  REFORM. 

b3  rich,  he  is  also  deceived.  He  has  been  climbiag,  or 
trying  to  climb  up  the  wrong  path,  and  to  him  the 
sting  of  the  final  judgment  will  come  with  the  same 
intensity  as  it  will  come  to  the  miserly  rich  man. 
There  is  only  one  way  to  follow  these  beautiful  so- 
ciological laws.  A  man  must  be  right  at  heart,  and 
he  must  see  and  believe  the  great  truth  that  his  soul 
is  immortal  and  is  greater  than  anything  he  can  pos- 
sibly possess;  and  his  life  must  correspond  with  this 
belief.  By  so  doiag,  he  rises  above  his  surroundings 
and  he  becomes  a  power  in  transforming  the  deadness 
of  this  wicked  world  into  the  living  beauty  that  God 
intended  it  should  be. 

The  influence  of  Satan  is  seen  in  the  spirit  of  the 
world  to-day,  and  the  whole  outcome  of  the  mad  strug- 
gle tells  the  story  that  the  great  majority  of  people 
think  that  it  is  more  blessed  to  receive  than  to  give, 
thereby  reversing  the  direct  teaching  of  Christ.  When 
Social  Eeform  has  won  its  day,  then  all  people  will 
know  better  the  meaniQg  of  these  beautiful  laws,  and 
until  then,  only  such  will  know  as  are  living  in  the 
glory  of  them. 

5. — Christ  Denounced  the  Spirit  of  Modern 
Competition. 

Paul,  writing  as  an  interpreter  of  Christ,  says: 
*^Let  nothing  be  done  through  strife  or  vain-glory.'* 
Christ  directly  demands:  **Thou  shalt  not  covet  thy 
neighbor's  goods,  nor  anything  that  is  thy  neighbor's.*' 
The  monopolies  have  grown  fat  on  the  fruits  of  covet- 
ousness.  They  start  to  covet  what  the  small  firms 
possess,  and,  notwithstanding  all  the  protest  that  can 


CHBIST  AND  SOCIAL  REFORM.  285 

be  offered,  they  force  them  to  either  sell  or  quit  busi- 
ness. All  this  is  for  the  purpose  of  their  own  enrich- 
ment, and  they  can  go  ahead,  for  our  civil  law  is  mis- 
erably ineffective.  The  condition  of  present  day  so- 
ciety makes  it  about  as  hard  as  possible  for  people  to 
obey  the  law  of  not  coveting.  The  law  fosters  and 
permits  the  most  unjust  inequalities,  and  therefore, 
the  greatest  incentive  to  temptation  is  at  hand. 

Christ  came  to  minister  to  the  two  parts  of  man's 
nature — to  the  spiritual  and  to  the  social.  To  the  one 
he  set  the  fittest  models  and  ideals,  demanding  and 
lovingly  requesting  that  every  man  should  live  up  to 
them,  and  thereby  bring  his  soul  into  harmony  with 
divine  conditions  through  repentance  and  faith.  This 
is  the  casting  off  of  sin  and  sinfulness,  and  taking  on 
the  life  of  righteousness  with  all  that  this  word  com- 
prehends. Christ  himself  set  the  lofty  example  of  the 
sinless  life,  by  taking  the  eminence  himself,  whence  he 
invited  all  the  struggling  world  below  Him.  **Come 
unto  me,  *  *  He  called,  until  the  ear  of  the  common  peo- 
ple heard  him  gladly. 

This  represents  one  part  of  Christ's  teaching,  but 
there  is  another  part  that  ought  not  to  be  overlooked. 
It  is  just  as  clearly  a  part  of  His  whole  truth  and  doc- 
trine as  the  former,  and  that  is  His  teaching  that  man 
as  a  social  creature  in  relation  to  his  fellowman  shall 
live  on  the  plane  of  co-operative  love.  We  have  given 
a  few  of  these  teachings  as  they  relate  to  the  social 
world,  and  is  it  not  sad  that  the  world  refuses  to  hear 
or  obey  them?  And  even  the  church  in  large  part  is 
refusing  to  recognize  these  forcible  laws  regarding  the 
economic  life. 


286  christ  and  social  reform. 

6. — Christ  Clearly  Teaches  the  Spirit  of 
Co-operation. 

Eead  these  beautiful  passages  gathered  from  the 
book  of  inspiration:  ^'Bear  ye  one  another's  bur- 
dens, and  so  fulfill  the  law  of  Christ.''  ^^Let  no  man 
seek  his  own,  but  each  his  neighbor's  good."  ^^No 
man  liveth  to  himself."  ^'Thou  shalt  love  thy  neigh- 
bor as  thyself."  **Do  unto  others  as  you  would  that 
others  do  unto  you." 

It  is  not  hard  for  a  man  to  make  a  Golden  Eule  for 
himself,  or  one  that  will  apply  to  himself  and  his 
friend,  but  to  formulate  a  law  that  will  stand  for  all 
time,  and  that  will  meet  all  conditions  of  human  g^o- 
ciety,  was  left  alone  for  Heaven  to  reveal  to  men. 

Take  an  honest  view  of  human  society  as  we  see  it 
to-day,  and  we  cannot  find,  in  the  business  or  social 
realms,  any  kiad  of  obedience  to  the  beautiful  laws  of 
Christ  that  teach  the  spirit  of  Co-operation.  The 
more  you  study  the  spirit  that  pervades  society  in  gen- 
eral, the  more  you  are  convinced  that  the  controlling 
motto  is;  **Do  others,  or  they  will  do  you,"  or,  as 
some  prefer  to  put  it,  **Do  others  before  they  do  you." 
It  is  to  be  regretted  that  such  a  spirit  should  so 
largely  dominate  the  business  activities  of  the  present 
age. 

Another  similar  thought  of  Co-operation  flowing 
from  the  teachings  of  Christ  is  that  **Love  seeketh 
not  her  own. ' '  Nobody  is  able  to  interpret  such  a  lofty 
declaration  unless  he  is  filled  with  the  spirit  of  the 
same  love  referred  to  in  the  passage.  There  are  not  a 
few  of  the  human  family  who  open  their  ears  to  hear 
the  angel  like  story  of  pure  love,  and  by  so  doing, 


CHRIST  AND  SOCIAL  REFORM.  287 

they  gather  to  themselves  wings  to  soar  above  the 
cruel  field  of  industrial  warfare  and  breathe  the  at- 
mospnere  created  for  human  souls.  Gold  will  not  per- 
ish in  the  refining  fire,  neither  will  true  love.  It  will 
stand  the  test  under  any  strain,  and  will  ever  reach 
out  after  the  one  beloved,  encircling  even  the  field  of 
enemies.  The  narrow-minded  world  thinks  it  an  act 
of  folly  to  follow  this  beautiful  teaching,  but  he  who 
has  proved  the  power  and  beauty  of  this  law  will 
cling  to  it  with  undying  devotion. 

7. — Christ  Teaches  Us  Not  to  Worry  Over  Temporal 

Needs. 

*Take,  therefore,  no  thought,  saying  what  shall  we 
eat,  or  what  shall  we  drink,  or  wherewithal  shall  we 
be  clothed.  But  seek  ye  first  the  Kingdom  of  God  and 
His  righteousness  and  all  these  things  shall  be  added 
unto  you.'' 

Christ  contemplated  a  state  of  Society  in  which  no 
one  would  be  required  to  take  thought  for  food  or 
raiment,  or  to  lay  up  treasure  for  a  rainy  day.  Christ 
knew  that  in  order  to  have  this  state  of  Society,  it 
would  require  not  only  a  religious  but  an  economic 
change.  The  sceptics  of  civil  government  tell  us  that 
it  would  be  impossible  to  form  a  commonwealth  that 
would  take  away  the  necessity  of  worry.  Perhaps  all 
human  concern  can  never  be  totally  eliminated,  and 
indeed  it  never  should  be,  but  it  is  possible,  under  the 
reign  of  Social  Reform,  for  every  man,  woman  and 
child  to  be  absolutely  certain  that  they  shall  have 
enough  to  eat  and  wear,  provided  the  earth  can  pro- 
duce enough  to  feed  and  clothe  all  the  people.    This 


288  CHRIST  AND  SOCIAL  REFORM. 

will  be  accomplished  under  Social  Reform,  if  each 
member  of  society  will  give  his  natural  share  of  labor, 
which,  indeed,  would  not  be  more  than  four  or  six 
hours  a  day.  Would  it  not  be  far  better  for  everybody 
to  work  a  few  hours  a  day  and  realize  that  he  has 
earned  what  he  eats  and  wears  and  the  luxuries  he 
enjoys,  than  for  the  great  bulk  of  people  to  work  like 
slaves  and  a  small  part  scheme  like  demons  in  order 
to  secure  the  largest  possible  share  of  the  product  of 
the  toiler's  labor. 

8. — Christ  Condemned  Extortioners  and 
Speculators. 

*^My  house  shall  be  called  by  all  nations  the  house 
of  prayer,  but  ye  have  made  it  a  den  of  thieves. '*  Wliy 
does  He  call  them  thieves  ?  Simply  because  the  money 
changers  took  advantages  of  the  people  who  came  in 
from  other  countries.  These  visitors  could  not  buy 
until  they  received  current  money,  and  these  grafters 
of  the  Temple  either  charged  too  much  for  the  ex- 
change of  money,  or  placed  an  exorbitant  price  on 
the  doves  and  sacrificial  animals.  Christ  became 
righteously  indignant  at  these  speculators.  '  *  If  Christ 
lashed  these  speculating  extortioners  out  of  His 
Father's  temple  with  knotted  rope,  what  will  He  do 
to  their  descendants  when,  in  the  day  of  His  Power, 
He  deals  with  all  who  have  been  corrupting  Society 
falsely  in  His  name  ? ' '  We  read  also  at  another  place, 
**Ye  laden  men  with  burdens  grievous  to  be  borne,  and 
ye  yourselves  touch  not  the  burdens  with  one  of  your 
fingers."  How  applicable  is  this  description  to  many 
of  our  modern  capitalists.     Christ  speaks  out  in  his 


CHRIST  AND  SOCIAL  REFORM.  289 

unmistakable  clearness  to  such:  **Woe  unto  you/' 
and  this  comprehends  all  classes  of  men  and  women 
who  take  advantage  of  others,  and  are  thereby  enabled 
to  roll  in  idle  luxury  at  the  expense  of  the  grievous 
toil  of  others. 

The  world  imagines  that  the  great  Co-operative 
principles  of  Christ  are  only  suitable  for  some  ideal 
Utopia,  and  altogether  unfit  for  our  every  day  life, 
and  the  church  has  partly  accepted  this  error.  Truth 
will  vindicate  itself  in  the  process  of  time,  and  it  will 
be  found  that  these  principles  laid  down  in  the  pre- 
vious pages  are  well  fitted  to  the  needs  of  Society. 
They  will  surely  work  to  the  highest  ends  of  the  indi- 
vidual and  to  the  best  good  of  everybody. 

We  search  in  vain  through  all  the  realm  of  litera- 
ture to  find  such  great  laws  that  supplement  and  com- 
plement each  other  as  beautifully  and  practically  as 
the  foregoing  Co-operative  Social  laws  of  Christ. 
They  give  the  only  safe  recipe  to  cure  the  ills  that 
have  been  caused  by  the  war  between  Labor  and 
Capital. 


18 


CHAPTEE  XXVI. 


We  have  seen  what  great  blessings  will  come  to 
Society  when  the  kingdom  of  Christian  Socialism  or 
Heaven  on  Earth  is  established,  but  as  to  the  best 
method  of  establishing  this  kingdom,  there  is  a  wide 
difference  of  opinion.  We  shall  not  spend  our  time  in 
theoretical  vaporizing  and  indefinite  juggling  of 
words,  trying  to  give  a  solution  of  this  problem,  but 
we  will  be  plain  and  practical  in  our  statements,  so 
that  any  sincere  reader  can  easily  understand  our 
position. 

I.— WILL  WE  GET  SOCIAL  EEFORM  THROUGH 
THE  CHURCH? 

There  are  not  a  few  who  believe  that  the  Christian 
Church  is  the  only  true  medium  through  which  all 
reform  measures  must  be  accomplished.  Such  per- 
sons do  not  properly  distinguish  between  the  func- 
tions of  the  church  and  those  of  the  state.  It  is  true 
that  the  church  has  wrought  wonders  in  uplifting  hu- 

290 


HOW  TO  GET  SOCIAL  KEFORM.  291 

manity  and  in  originating  and  carrying  forward  great 
moral  and  spiritual  movements.  No  doubt  this  work 
of  the  church  will  continue  until  time  shall  be  no 
more ;  but  we  must  never  forget  that  the  church  works 
through  the  medium  of  persuasion  and  love  and  not 
by  civil  force.  The  church  can  prepare  the  hearts  and 
consciences  of  the  people  to  act  rightly,  but  when  we 
want  new  regulations  to  govern  Society  we  must  enter 
the  political  arena  as  well  as  the  church  door.  The 
laws  that  govern  civil  life  are  not  framed  by  ecclesias- 
tical bodies.  It  is  easy  for  a  man  to  stand  aloof  from 
the  church  and  to  say  that  if  Christians  did  their  duty, 
Social  Reform  would  soon  be  a  reality.  But  the  man 
who  throws  all  responsibility  and  blame  on  the  church 
and  refuses  to  co-operate  with  it,  is  one  of  the  mean- 
est of  all  men  living  and  is  a  self-contradiction. 
We  are  all  thankful  that  the  day  is  past  when  the 
church  exercises  civil  authority  over  the  people.  It 
has  no  policemen  or  constables  to  push  its  campaign, 
and,  if  it  cannot  win  by  the  power  of  love  and  con- 
science, its  arms  are  powerless  to  save  the  lost, 
whether  they  are  rich  or  poor. 

We  find  two  extreme  opinions  regarding  the  church 
on  this  question.  The  Christian  optimist  cries  out; 
**Keep  on  preaching  and  praying  and  singing,  and 
changing  the  hearts  of  men,  and  in  God^s  own  good 
time  all  the  wrongs  of  earth  will  be  righted.*'  And 
the  pessimist  cries  out:  **You  may  as  well  shut  up 
your  churches,  stop  your  singing  and  praying,  be- 
cause everything  is  going  to  the  dogs.  The  world  will 
keep  on  getting  worse  and  worse  until  some  great 
revolution  brings  about  a  change.'' 

Looking  at  these  two  extreme  views,  we  cannot 


292  HOW  TO  GET  SOCIAL  REFORM. 

safely  accept  either  one  of  them,  nor  should  we  be  led 
by  their  radical  teaching.  The  most  intelligent  of  un- 
godly men  declare,  with  a  deep  sincerity  of  heart,  that 
for  the  public  good  we  must  maintain  the  Christian 
churches.  There  are  men  who  will  not  attend  any 
Christian  service,  who  would  be  shocked  if  they  were 
to  learn  that  the  churches  were  to  be  abandoned.  It 
does  not  require  a  very  shrewd  man  to  see  of  what 
great  value  the  Christian  Church  is  to  the  civil  life  of 
a  nation,  to  say  nothing  of  the  greater  advantages 
that  follow  in  the  individual  life  of  its  people. 

The  church  with  all  of  its  weaknesses  and  good 
qualities  will  no  doubt  continue  to  do  its  work  of  up- 
lifting men  by  the  power  of  truth.  But  how  long  will 
it  take  the  church,  with  its  peculiar  weapons  of  lo\'e, 
to  change  the  present  conditions  of  human  Society  to 
such  an  extent  that  there  will  be  no  more  strife  or 
contention  between  Capital  and  Labor?  Who  knows 
the  answer  to  this  question?  Under  the  circum- 
stances it  is  plainly  evident  that  both  the  Christian 
and  non-Christian  laborers  are  not  willing  to  wait  for 
the  uncertain  and  indefinite  accomplishment  of  this 
work  by  the  church,  or  in  other  words  through  the 
processes  of  moral  and  spiritual  evolution  alone. 

II.— WILL  WE  GET  SOCIAL  REFOEM 
THROUGH  POLITICS? 

We  believe  that  the  last  and  most  effective  blow 
against  Capitalism  will  be  given  at  the  ballot  box. 
When  the  new  liberty  is  established  for  all  classes 
through  politics,  then  the  emancipation  proclamation 


HOW  TO  GET  SOCIAL  EEFORM.  293 

will  be  proclaimed  to  more  than  four  million  slaves. 
What  a  glorious  deliverance  that  will  be. 

Some  of  the  efforts  that  have  been  made  by  labor 
organizations  have  been  very  successful;  others  have 
been  bungling.  Taking  all  into  consideration  the 
labor  unions  are  coming  to  see  that  final  victory  will 
never  be  won  by  following  the  present  tactics,  and  by 
depending  on  nothing  else  than  the  work  of  their  or- 
ganizations. So  we  send  the  cry  over  the  whole  land, 
*  *  Go  into  Politics. ' '  This  can  be  done  by  the  members 
of  organized  Labor  without  dragging  the  unions  into 
the  political  arena.  The  working  men  should  not  be 
persuaded  to  give  up  what  they  have  for  the  promise 
of  something  still  better  farther  off.  Let  the  labor 
unions  go  on,  but  let  the  men  unite  and  obtain  their 
rights  at  the  polls.  The  power  of  the  ballot  is  so  far 
reaching  that  no  one  can  predict  what  a  wonderful 
transformation  will  take  place  when  Labor  wins  the 
day. 

That  great  sainted  American  pulpit  orator,  T.  De- 
witt  Talmage,  had  courage  enough  to  recommend  the 
ballot  box  as  a  cure  for  our  present  industrial  in- 
equalities. We  quote  the  following:  ** While  in  this 
country  it  is  becoming  harder  and  harder  for  the  great 
mass  of  the  people  to  get  a  living,  there  are  too  many 
in  this  country  who  have  their  two  millions,  their  ten 
millions  and  their  twenty  millions,  and  carry  the  leg- 
islators in  one  pocket  and  the  congress  of  the  United 
States  in  the  other.  And  there  is  trouble  ahead. 
Eevolution.  I  pray  God  it  may  be  peaceful  revolu- 
tion, and  at  the  ballot  box.  The  time  must  come  in 
this  country  when  men  shall  be  sent  into  public  posi- 
tion who  cannot  be  purchased.    *    •    • 


THE  VOTER. — ^Look  at  the  common  worker  who  wishes  to  vote  intelligently. 
The  very  jangling  of  voices  is  confusing  and  is  ever  dividing  the  workers 
into  parties  that  fight  each  other.  Final  deliverance  must  come  throagh 
A  separate  political  party- 

294 


HOW  TO  GET  SOCIAL  REFORM.  295 

'^Bribery  is  cursing  this  land.  There  have  been  swin- 
dles enacted  in  this  nation  within  the  last  thirty  years, 
enough  to  swamp  three  monarchies.  The  Democratic 
party  filled  its  cup  of  iniquity  before  it  went  out  of 
power  before  the  war.  Then  the  Republican  party 
came  along,  and  its  opportunities  through  the  con- 
tracts were  greater,  and  so  it  filled  its  cup  of  iniquity 
a  little  sooner,  and  there  they  lie  to-day,  the  Demo- 
cratic party  and  the  Republican  party,  side  by  side, 
great  loathsome  carcasses  of  iniquity,  each  one  worse 
than  the  other.'' 

III.— STEPPING-STONES    TO    REACH    SOCIAL 

REFORM. 

All  great  reforms  in  the  history  of  the  world  have 
been  gradual.  Feudalism  dawned  gradually,  and  so 
it  passed  away  gradually,  giving  place  to  our  present 
wage  and  contract  system,  and  we  are  quite  certain 
that  the  present  system  will  finally  give  way  to  the 
state  of  Social  Reform.  One  of  the  sure  stepping- 
stones  is  Municipal  Ownership,  and  such  movements 
as  tend  to  place  public  franchises  in  the  hands  of  the 
community.  Let  the  people  everywhere  use  these  step- 
ping-stones, and  whenever  it  is  possible  to  create  local 
sentiment  strong  enough  to  wrest  the  gas  works,  water 
works  and  street  railways  from  private  control,  it 
ought  to  be  done,  even  if  the  ballot  box  must  be 
brought  into  play.  Nothing  will  educate  the  people 
to  the  benefits  that  come  through  public  ownership 
as  rapidly  as  actual  experience.  Suppose  the  people 
of  a  community  should  get  control  of  its  street-car 
lines,  and  the  fare  should  be  reduced  from  five  to 


296  HOW  TO  GET  SOCIAL  REFORM. 

three  cents,  that  would  have  a  more  telling  effect  than 
two  or  more  years  of  scattering  literature.  There  is 
no  doubt  but  that  the  usual  fare  of  five  cents  could 
be  reduced  to  three  cents,  and  all  expenses  would  be 
met,  and  then  many  people  could  afford  to  ride  who 
cannot  now.  Private  ownership  is  growing  fat  on  this 
enormous  dividend  of  forty  per  cent.,  or  more,  that 
it  is  grasping  from  the  public. 

The  tide  of  Municipal  Ownership  is  rising  very  rap- 
idly, and,  as  we  have  said  before,  large  numbers  of 
cities  have  taken  possession  of  their  public  utilities, 
such  as  electric  lighting,  street-car  lines,  etc.  Per- 
haps a  movement  will  soon  be  inaugurated  to  nation- 
alize some  of  our  transportation  or  transmission  me- 
diums. Let  us  work  for  such  measures  with  all  our 
might;  they  are  steps  in  the  right  direction,  and  by 
adopting  such  public  ownership  measures,  we  will  in- 
troduce the  great  principles  of  Social  Eeform  grad- 
ually, and  Society  will  not  be  disturbed  as  otherwise 
it  would. 

There  are  many  other  stepping-stones  that  must 
not  be  forgotten.  Whenever  we  have  an  opportunity 
of  lessening  the  burdens  of  the  laboring  man  in  any 
way  whatever  we  should  be  glad  to  do  it.  Perhaps  we 
can  lend  our  influence  to  reduce  the  number  of  hours 
that  constitute  a  day's  work,  or  the  increase  of 
wages:  It  may  be  that  sentiment  can  be  awakened 
sufficiently  in  some  communities  to  compel  the  cor- 
porations to  give  greater  protection  to  their  employees 
against  accidents,  sickness,  and  loss  of  time.  We  may 
also  be  able  to  inaugurate  a  pension  movement,  which 
will  mean  that  a  person  who  has  reached  sixty  or 
seventy  years  of  age,  shall  receive  a  pension  from  his 


HOW  TO  GET  SOCIAL  REFORM.  297 

employers,  the  amount  of  the  pension  to  be  regulated 
by  the  number  of  years  of  service  the  employee  has 
rendered.  And  so  we  might  continue  one  suggestion 
after  another  without  limit.  Any  such  measures  that 
tend  to  elevate  the  condition  of  the  worker  should  be 
attempted  if  possible,  until  the  golden  era  of  Social 
Eeform  has  dawned  upon  us. 

State  and  National  Ownership  are  the  last  great 
forts  to  win,  and  as  fast  as  either  can  assume  control 
of  any  industry,  it  ought  to  be  done.  Some  years  ago 
the  Postmaster  General  of  the  United  States  recom- 
mended National  Ownership  of  the  telegraph  and  tele- 
phone in  connection  with  the  postal  system.  This  was 
a  business-like  proposition,  and  one  of  the  most  sensi- 
ble suggestions  ever  made.  Why  was  it  not  adopted? 
Go  and  ask  the  thousands  of  men  who  were  piling  up 
fortunes  from  these  private  enterprises.  Perhaps 
they  can  give  you  an  answer.  It  only  takes  the  profit 
that  the  railroads  and  telegraph  companies  make  in 
one  week  to  buy  up  enough  influence  to  defeat  any 
sensible  proposition  like  this.  You  must  not  be  too 
severe  on  these  Capitalists;  they  simply  take  steps 
for  their  own  protection  just  like  many  smaller  busi- 
ness men  take  steps  for  their  protection.  If  any  such 
business  man  could  make  a  thousand  dollars  by  spend- 
ing fifty,  no  doubt  he  would  do  it.  This  does  not  argue 
that  bribing,  or  any  other  such  low  method  is  right. 

Enemies,  both  sincere  and  conscienceless,  are  con- 
stantly misrepresenting  the  Social  Reform  movement 
by  picking  out  the  apparent  and  theoretical  flaws  and 
magnifying  them  a  hundredfold  before  the  public. 
They  also  try  to  drag  the  cause  of  Social  Reform  to 
the  low  level  of  the  Anarchy,  and  by  this  method  of 


298  HOW  TO  GET  SOCIAL  EEFORM. 

prejudicing  many  minds  they  have  blocked  the  wheels 
of  progress  to  some  extent;  but  slander  and  calumny 
cannot  always  shut  out  the  light.  Behold,  the  workers 
are  rising  to  claim  their  throne,  and  they  will  gladly 
throw  off  their  chains  when  once  the  angel  of  deliv- 
erance is  truly  recognized. 

We  now  come  to  a  very  natural  question  and  that 
is:  ** Suppose  the  cause  of  Social  Eeform  would  win 
at  the  ballot  box  in  a  national  election,  how  could  we 
get  possession  of  our  industries?'^  We  have  no  ob- 
jections to  anyone  asking  such  a  question,  for  it  is 
perfectly  in  order  to  look  that  far  ahead.  No  doubt 
the  time  will  soon  come  when  sufficient  public  senti- 
ment will  be  created  to  push  the  political  fight  vic- 
toriously. The  widespread  feeling  of  dicontent, 
and  the  endless  amount  of  agitation  in  numberless 
communities  throughout  the  nation,  all  betoken  the 
general  uprising  that  is  inevitable. 

The  following  chapter  will  consider  how  the  indus- 
tries of  our  nation  can  be  rightfully  taken  from  their 
private  owners,  and  be  the  property  of  all  the  pimple 
under  the  mighty  grip  of  National  Ownership  and 
control. 


CHAPTER  XXVn. 


Q0T^^ss£ssjo]i^^ 


Public  sentiment  is  being  created  so  rapidly  in 
favor  of  Municipal  and  National  Ownership  that  it  will 
not  be  long  until  the  majority  of  the  voters  in  many 
sections  of  our  country  will  be  in  favor  of  the  new 
economic  administration.  There  are  many  munici- 
palities now  in  which  there  is  enough  sentiment 
created  to  win  on  a  Municipal  Ownership  platform,  if 
a  fair  chance  were  given  to  the  people  to  express 
themselves  on  this  issue.  The  final  victory  is,  never- 
theless inevitable,  and  knowing  the  facts  as  we  do,  a 
pointed  question  naturally  arises,  **How  will  the  na- 
tion ^i^i  possession  of  our  vast  industries  after  the 
people  declare  that  the  new  order  of  economics  shall 
go  into  effect  r^  It  requires  ten-fold  more  pains  and 
trouble  now  for  the  people  to  understand  how  this 
will  be  done,  than  it  will  require  when  we  stand  at  the 
threshold  of  the  new  and  golden  period. 

We  will  outline  several  distinct  methods  by  which 
the  nation  can  honorably  come  into  possession  of  all 

299 


300         HOW  TO  GET  POSSESSION  OF  OUR  INDUSTRIES. 

our  industries  or  as  many  of  them  as  may  be  desir- 
able. We  have  studied  this  phase  of  the  question  with 
considerable  care,  and  have  profited  by  the  sugges- 
tions of  other  writers.  We  will  now  present  and  dis- 
cuss the  following  four  methods  that  form  the  most 
complete  condensation  of  all  the  theories  advanced. 

1.  Bond-Issue  Method. 

2.  Freezing-Out  Method. 

3.  Public  Seizure  Method. 

4.  Privilege  Method. 

All  that  we  ask  of  the  reader  is  that  he  give  careful 
consideration  to  the  reading  and  studying  of  these 
four  methods,  and,  while  we  do  not  recommend  all  of 
them,  yet  we  can  say  that  any  one  of  them  is  practical. 

I.— BOND-ISSUE  METHOD. 

This  method  is  recommended  as  the  most  honorable 
of  all.  It  proposes  that  the  government  shall  take 
possession  of  all  the  industries  to  hold  and  manage 
them  for  the  benefit  of  all  the  people.  It  would  be 
impossible  to  pay  cash  for  such  a  fabulous  aggrega- 
tion of  millions  as  are  represented  by  the  value  of 
our  widely  extended  industries.  Therefore  the  gov- 
ernment, in  case  of  purchase,  would  issue  bonds  to 
the  owners  and  would  be  in  a  position  to  dictate  its 
own  price,  and  would  not  be  controlled  by  watered 
stock  or  any  other  kind  of  inflated  values  which  so 
much  misrepresent  real  values,  and  disgrace  the  man- 
agement of  large  corporate  interests  of  to-day.  With- 
out a  question  the  government  would  have  the  ad- 
vantage, and  it  would  pay  whatever  percentage  on 
these  bonds  it  might  deem  advisable  for  the  perma- 


HOW  TO  GET  POSSESSION  OF  OUR  INDUSTRIES.         301 

nency  and  well-being  of  the  whole  nation.  No  rich 
man  need  tremble  in  the  day  of  national  reckoning, 
for  all  things  will  be  taken  into  account  when  the  gov- 
ernment compels  a  sale  and  offers  to  be  the  purchaser. 

Now  we  hear  one  critic  coming  forward  with  his  in- 
terrogation as  follows:  ^* Would  it  be  just  for  the 
government  to  dictate  terms  of  a  sale  and  then  become 
the  purchaser!'*  If  the  critic  who  asks  this  question, 
will  study  the  history  of  Trusts  and  Monopolies  in 
this  country  during  the  past  fifty  years,  he  will  find 
that  they  have  manifested  the  most  cruel  and  merci- 
less spirit  of  arbitrary  independence.  These  heart- 
less and  soulless  corporations  have  been  dictating  to 
the  smaller  dealers  and  to  the  American  people  in 
general  just  how  they  should  conduct  their  affairs, 
and  what  prices  they  should  pay  for  certain  useful 
and  necessary  commodities.  Let  us  in  return  ask  this 
critic,  **Have  these  things  been  right?  What  has  en- 
abled a  few  men  of  our  nation  to  gather  to  themselves 
such  untold  wealth  T*  It  has  resulted  from  the  capa- 
bility to  dictate  terms  and  prices  to  those  who  were 
compelled  to  buy  or  sell.  The  ungenerous  spirit  of 
modem  competition  has  destroyed  the  business  and 
blighted  the  hopes  of  many  small  competitors,  and  has 
heaped  upon  the  poor  laborer  a  burden  that  has  ever 
been  increasing,  until,  under  the  intolerable  load,  he  is 
now  groaning,  sighing  and  praying  for  the  relief  which 
must  come. 

Suppose  the  time  were  here  when  we  were  to  enjoy 
the  blessings  of  National  Ownership  and  management 
of  our  industries,  and  the  Bond-Issue  method  would 
be  adopted;  and,  as  a  consequence,  the  government 
would  dictate  to  the  Trusts  and  Monopolies  the  terms 


302        HOW  TO  GET  POSSESSION  OF  OUB  INDUSTRIES. 

of  sale  and  purchase,  it  would  only  be  the  same  flavor 
of  business  dealing  that  these  same  Trusts  and  Mo- 
nopolies have  been  using  for  their  own  aggrandize- 
ment, only  in  the  first  instance  it  is  fashionable  rob- 
bery and  in  the  second  it  is  re-adjustment  for  public 
good.  The  great  bulk  of  those  who  are  wealthy  would 
be  getting  a  taste  of  the  same  dealing  that  they  them- 
selves practised  in  order  to  heap  up  riches.  Uncle 
Sam,  representing  all  the  people  of  the  nation,  would 
then  be  the  great  Trust  and  Monopoly  who  would 
stand  on  the  glorious  throne  of  national  strength  and 
dictate  to  all  the  now  great  and  mighty  Monopolists 
the  terms  of  sale.  Then  would  the  great  mass  of  peo- 
ple, including  many  of  the  rich,  cry  out  Amen!  and 
this  shout  of  approval  would  be  heard  from  sea  to  sea 
and  from  the  lakes  to  the  gulf.  When  the  people  be- 
gin to  realize  the  benefits  of  the  new  industrial  order, 
millions  of  them  will  wonder  how  it  was  possible  that 
so  large  a  company  of  human  beings  could  have  been 
persuaded  to  run  the  fooPs  errand  so  long. 

Another  objector  comes  to  the  front  and  asks  how 
the  nation  can  ever  pay  so  great  a  debt  as  would  be 
created  by  the  purchase  of  all  the  industries?  We 
answer  by  saying  that  the  people  have  already  paid 
over  and  over  many  times  for  the  actual  value  of  all 
the  Trust  and  Monopoly  property  in  our  country,  and 
it  will  not  be  very  difficult  to  pay  for  them  once  more, 
and  then  own  them  for  themselves.  If  the  govern- 
ment become  handicapped  in  any  way  whatever,  it 
will  simply  do  with  these  bonds  just  what  the  Mo- 
nopolists do  to  the  people — it  will  cut  down  expenses. 
The  government  will  be  careful  that  it  places  upon 
itself  no  heavier  burden  that  it  can  easily  bear. 


HOW  TO  GET  POSSESSION  OP  OUB  INDUSTEIES.         303 

We  do  not  say  that  we  favor  this  method  for  it  is 
faulty  in  several  respects ;  but  if  it  should  be  adopted, 
the  wealthy  can  count  themselves  fortunate  that  the 
patient  endurance  of  a  suffering  public  has  not  taken 
more  rash  measures,  such  as  shall  be  considered  a  lit- 
tle later  in  this  chapter. 

Many  other  questions  might  be  asked  concerning 
the  Bond-Issue  method.  One  might  refer  to  the  na- 
ture of  the  bond,  whether  it  should  be  transferable  or 
not.  Another  question  could  relate  to  the  time  limit 
of  the  bond,  and  so  many  other  questions  of  similar 
import  might  be  advanced,  but  it  is  unnecessary 
within  the  scope  of  this  volume  to  enter  into  all  these 
details.  We  do  not  fear  the  outcome,  if  public  owner- 
ship once  becomes  a  reality.  All  these  matters  will 
be  fully  adjusted,  and  the  working  machinery  of  the 
new  industrial  kingdom  will  be  as  harmonious  as  can 
well  be  expected  while  Satan  is  in  the  world  and  his 
imps  are  trying  to  master  it. 

n.— FEEEZING-OUT  METHOD. 

This  method  has  been  called  by  some  writers  the 
** Competition  Method,''  and  is  advocated  by  some 
as  the  best  of  all.  If  the  Freezing-Out  Method  were 
adopted  in  order  to  get  possession  of  our  industries, 
it  would  mean  that  the  government  would  enter  into 
business  in  competition  with  the  individuals  or  corpora- 
tions that  have  already  established  themselves.  Let 
us  take  for  example  the  sugar  business.  The  govern- 
ment would  organize  a  Sugar  Monopoly  of  its  own, 
and  by  its  superior  advantages  it  could  easily  legis- 
late in  its  own  favor,  just  like  so  many  Trusts  have 


304        HOW  TO  GET  POSSESSION  OF  OUE  INDUSTRIES. 

bought  legislation  in  their  favor.  In  a  short  time 
Uncle  Sam  would  have  his  grip  on  the  entire  sugar 
industry,  and  those  powerful  Monopolists  that  now 
control  the  whole  business  would  be  compelled  to  sur- 
render, sell  to  the  government,  or  suffer  the  inevitable 
squeeze  that  would  follow  upon  their  refusal  to  do 
either.  In  this  way  Uncle  Sam  could  freeze  out  all 
the  great  Corporations  and  Trusts  that  now  regulate 
the  business  interests  of  the  nation.  This  would  also 
be  a  case  of  dealing  out  to  the  Monopolists  the  same 
kind  of  medicine  that  the  Monopolists  have  been  deal- 
ing out  to  others  in  the  past.  There  is  no  question  as 
to  government  being  able  to  compete  successfully  with 
the  Trusts  and  Monopolists  in  the  country. 

There  are  many  who  will  clap  their  hands  in  favor 
of  this  method  when  it  is  proposed  to  them,  without 
pausing  to  think  that  it  is  one  of  the  most  foolish  and 
wasteful  measures  that  could  be  proposed.  Consider 
for  a  moment  the  railroad  phase  of  the  question.  It 
would  be  absurd  for  the  government  to  commence  to 
build  a  system  of  railroads  of  its  own  across  the  con- 
tinent just  for  the  purpose  of  freezing  out  the  rail- 
road corporations  or  of  compelling  them  to  offer  their 
property  at  a  sacrifice  price.  The  Bond-Issue  method 
would  be  far  superior  and  more  honorable  than  this 
method. 

The  same  evil  result  would  follow  if  the  competi- 
tion method  would  be  adopted  in  other  lines  of  indus- 
try, and  all  this  proves  that  it  is  an  undesirable 
method  to  gain  the  end  desired.  As  far  as  we  have 
considered,  we  would  prefer  the  Bond-Issue  method 
to  the  Freezing-Out  or  * ^ Competition  Method.'' 

Suppose  a  railroad  would  show  fight  against  the 


HOW  TO  GET  POSSESSION  OF  OUE  INDUSTRIES.        305 

government,  and  the  government  would  be  compelled 
to  handicap  the  railroad  by  legislation;  that  would 
be  worse  than  confiscation,  for  it  would  be  taking  the 
entire  value  of  all  the  railroad  lines  away  from  their 
owners.  It  would  be  far  better  for  the  government  to 
purchase  all  the  railways  in  the  country,  and  organize 
one  harmonious  system,  and  abandon  all  useless  lines 
and  all  unnecessary  duplication  of  tracks,  and  then 
add  railways  where  it  might  be  less  profitable  but 
more  convenient  for  the  people;  just  like  the  govern- 
ment does  in  the  mail  service  which  has  proved  to  be 
one  of  the  strongest  features  of  a  public  ownership 
policy.  We  have  thousands  of  mail  routes  that  are 
run  at  a  loss,  but  see  what  great  service  the  people 
get  in  the  rural  districts.  The  highly  profitable  cen- 
ters help  to  pay  for  these  less  profitable  routes;  and 
so  in  regard  to  railways ;  we  would  have  our  railways 
distributed  to  accommodate  the  needs  of  the  whole 
nation. 


III.— PUBLIC  SEIZURE  METHOD. 

The  name  of  this  method  alone  will  indicate  the 
nature  of  it.  Being  interpreted  it  means  that  the  gov- 
ernment would  simply  take  possession  of  all  the  indus- 
tries to  own  and  manage  them  for  the  benefit  of  all 
the  people,  just  as  the  postoffice  is  owned  and  man- 
aged for  all  the  people.  Certain  enemies  have 
brought  ridicule  upon  Social  Reform  by  declaring 
that  public  ownership  means  that  everybody's  wealth 
should  be  put  together  in  one  pile  and  each  individual 
get  an  equal  share  of  it.  This  is  worse  than  nonsense, 
19 


306         HOW  TO  GET  POSSESSION  OF  OUR  INDUSTRIES. 

and  any  sensible  person  does  not  believe  that  the  stu- 
dents of  Social  Eeform  advocate  such  a  doctrine.  The 
Public  Seizure  method  implies  that  all  the  industries 
shall  become  the  property  of  all  the  people  and  that 
all  the  people  will  be  employed  by  the  government  to 
run  these  industries.  Let  us  refer  once  more  to  the 
postoffice  system.  Is  it  not  true  that  the  government 
owns  the  entire  postojffice  department,  and  thereby  it 
is  owned  by  all  the  people?  But  who  would  argue 
that  in  order  for  the  people  to  get  the  benefit  of  the 
postoffice  system  that  all  the  postoffices,  mail  boxes 
and  mail  bags  must  be  sold  and  the  money  divided 
equally  amongst  the  people?  Any  ordinary  person 
outside  of  an  insane  asylum  knows  that  this  is  not 
necessary.  The  only  way  is  for  the  postoffice  to  con- 
tinue as  it  is  now  established. 

The  Public  Seizure  policy  of  getting  possession  of 
our  industries  is  certainly  a  radical  measure,  and 
savors  of  insurrection  and  dishonesty;  yet  it  would 
be  adopting  the  same  course  as  is  pursued  by  a  vic- 
torious army  marching  through  the  conquered  land 
and  taking  whatever  it  wished  to  have;  and,  in  fact 
taking  possession  of  the  whole  land  in  the  name  of  the 
government  for  which  its  soldiers  are  fighting.  The 
history  of  the  world  is  replete  with  instances  of  the 
policy,  **To  the  victor  belong  the  spoils. '^  Is  it  right 
or  is  it  wrong  for  the  victorious  forces  to  take  posses- 
sion of  the  whole  country  they  have  captured?  We 
answer  in  some  cases  it  is  right,  and  in  other  cases  it 
is  wrong;  it  depends  altogether  upon  the  issue  of  the 
conflict,  and  not  upon  the  dominance  of  brute  forces. 
Was  it  right  for  the  thirteen  American  colonies  to  fight 
for  independence,  and,  winning  in  the  severe  struggle. 


HOW  TO  GET  POSSESSION  OF  OUR  INDUSTRIES.         307 

confiscate  to  themselves  millions  of  acres  of  land  that 
now  represent  billions  of  wealth?  Was  it  right  for 
them  to  take  possession  of  this  territory  just  because 
they  were  strong  enough  to  do  it?  The  majority  of 
the  world  will  answer  that  it  was  all  right  just  because 
the  early  colonists  were  suffering  unreasonable  and 
intolerable  burdens,  and  they  had  a  perfect  right  to 
free  themselves  from  the  imposition  that  was  prac- 
tised upon  them.  So  we  might  argue  concerning  many 
of  the  conflicts  of  the  world  and  many  of  the  changing 
aspects  of  national  life  and  territory. 

The  question  that  now  comes  to  the  front  in  this 
part  of  our  chapter  is  a  very  serious  one.  Would  it  be 
right  for  a  burdened  public,  overtaxed  all  their  life- 
time by  cruel  and  merciless  corporations,  whipped  to 
the  severest  tasks  under  the  cruel  necessities  of  mod- 
ern life,  bruised  and  mangled  by  the  coercive  laws  of 
modern  competition,  robbed  shamefully  of  time  and 
wages,  beaten  into  poverty  and  death  by  the  manipu- 
lation of  corporations,  until  we  have  the  masses  of 
suffering,  shivering  poor  on  the  one  side,  and  the 
classes  of  tTie  immensely  wealthy  magnates  on  the 
other  side, — would  it  be  right,  we  ask,  under  such  con- 
ditions for  the  awakened  people  to  take  possession  of 
the  billions  of  dollars  that  have  been  filched  from  them 
by  the  unjust  tyranny  of  the  masters?  We  answer 
that  it  would  be  right  if  fair  compensation  were  given 
for  the  property  thus  taken,  and  doubly  right  if  the 
general  public  good  demands  it,  but  certainly  not  right 
in  many  cases  for  the  public  to  seize  private  property 
without  fair  compensation.  It  is  not  right  to  take 
from  a  man  what  belongs  to  him  just  because  you  have 
the  power  to  do  so ;  but,  if  you  can  show  that  the  man 


308         HOW  TO  GET  POSSESSION  OF  OUR  INDUSTRIES. 

has  taken  what  he  possesses  unjustly  from  somebody 
else  then  a  higher  authority  has  the  right  to  equalize 
matters.  It  is  painfully  true  that  certain  captains  of 
industry  have  piled  up  their  millions  by  following 
questionable  tactics  of  business,'  using  at  times  un- 
christian methods  to  freeze  out  all  competition.  This 
means  that  they  have  violated  the  law  of  righteous- 
ness to  pile  up  a  greater  part  of  their  wealth.  Now, 
would  it  be  right  for  the  highest  authority  in  our  na- 
tion or  the  government  itself  to  take  from  the  guilty 
and  innocent  alike,  their  possessions  and  hold  them  for 
the  common  use  and  good  of  everybody?  If  a  thing 
like  this  were  to  happen  the  smaller  owners  would  suf- 
fer in  proportion  just  as  much  as  the  larger  ones,  for 
indeed  the  man  who  owns  his  humble  home  esteems  it 
as  preciously  as  the  millionaire  can  esteem  his  vast 
aggregation  of  wealth. 

While  at  first  thought  the  Public  Seizure  measure 
appears  unjust,  it  nevertheless  has  some  elements  of 
propriety.  We  believe  that  the  best  method  of  all  is 
the  one  which  we  will  next  consider. 

IV.— PEIVILEGE  METHOD. 

This  method  resembles  the  Public  Seizure  method 
in  the  first  stages  of  its  operation.  It  means  that  the 
government  shall  take  possession  of  everything  in  the 
line  of  industries,  and  that  the  owners  shall  be  granted 
special  privileges  during  their  natural  life,  according 
to  the  value  of  the  industries  from  which  they  have 
been  relieved. 

If  it  were  true  that  all  the  accumulated  wealth  of  the 
country  were  gathered  by  unscrupulous  or  question- 


HOW  TO  GET  POSSESSION  OF  OUR  INDUSTRIES.         309 

able  methods,  we  would  have  no  hesitancy  in  advocat- 
ing a  clear-cut  Public  Seizure  method,  but  this  is  not 
true,  for  many  of  the  men  of  smaller  and  larger  wealth 
have  obtained  their  possessions  by  manifold  sacrifices 
and  a  conscientious  devotion  to  duty,  and,  for  that 
reason,  we  believe  that  some  recognition  should  be 
taken  of  a  man's  worthy  endeavors.  Suppose  the  pub- 
lic would  give  such  a  man,  in  return  for  his  accumu- 
lated wealth,  the  privilege  of  working  at  option,  or  to 
be  idle  at  option.  Would  it  not  be  perfectly  fair?  We 
believe  that  the  great  majority  of  this  kind  of  men,  if 
they  were  granted  special  privileges  and  free  support, 
would  render  valuable  service  to  Society,  as  the  out- 
growth of  their  own  free  choice.  It  is  unthinkable 
that  a  man  of  energy  and  genius  could  be  content  to 
be  an  idle  loafer  on  the  lap  of  Society.  We  feel  like 
guaranteeing  that  the  great  majority  of  such  persons 
would  render  as  much  service  as  the  Co-operative 
Commonwealth  would  demand,  as  the  average  amount 
of  work  to  be  performed  by  each  individual. 

What  more  should  any  millionaire  ask  than  to  be 
granted  the  privilege  of  having  an  easy  time  with  his 
family  all  the  rest  of  his  life,  receiving  his  comforts 
and  luxuries  in  return  for  what  the  public  has  taken 
from  him.  If  the  millionaire  should  find  fault,  he  can 
be  reminded  that  perhaps  a  great  part  of  his  posses- 
sions have  come  to  him  by  the  exploitation  of  labor 
or  by  the  pursuance  of  unchristian-like  methods. 
Suppose  the  millionaire  has  children;  would  it  not  be 
far  better  for  Society  that  these  children  should  per- 
form their  portions  of  the  work  at  whatever  calling 
their  fitness  may  suggest  and  public  necessity  may  de- 
mand, than  for  them  to  be  loafers  or  idlers,  which,  in 


310         HOW  TO  GET  POSSESSION  OF  OUR  INDUSTRIES. 

itself,  is  one  of  the  worst  evils  that  can  befall  any 
individual  ? 

Why  need  we  further  elaborate  upon  any  one  or 
more  of  the  methods  that  should  be  adopted  in  order 
to  get  possession  of  our  industries!  When  the  day 
comes  that  the  cause  of  Social  Reform  is  triumphant 
at  the  ballot  box,  the  people  of  that  day  will  no  doubt 
have  better  judgment  on  these  matters  than  we  now 
have,  and  therefore  they  will  be  much  more  able  to 
decide  which  is  the  best  course  to  adopt.  Let  us  not 
spend  needless  time  in  trying  to  answer  questions  too 
far  in  advance.  When  a  child  is  injured  get  the  doc- 
tor as  soon  as  possible,  do  not  stop  to  argue  and  debate 
what -the  doctor  will  do,  or  how  he  might  apply  the 
medicine.  Let  such  future  contingencies  go  until  the 
physician  arrives.  Whatever  you  can  do  in  the  mean- 
time to  alleviate  the  suffering  of  the  afflicted  one  and 
make  it  easier  for  the  physician  to  do  his  work  when 
he  arrives,  do  it  with  dispatch  and  neatness.  So  we 
say  to  all  who  try  to  slander  the  cause  of  Social  Re- 
form. What  we  want  is  the  physician, — the  means  at 
hand  to  cure,  and  when  that  comes,  no  doubt  the  medi- 
cine can  be  applied. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 


We  have  shown  in  the  preceding  chapters  that  com- 
petition with  all  its  evils  has  nevertheless  been  instru- 
mental in  developing  the  human  race.  It  has  urged 
individual  effort  to  its  highest  point,  and  has  brought 
to  all  people  the  blessings  of  invention  and  the  per- 
fecting of  mechanical  appliances,  in  addition  to  the 
individual  and  national  discipline,  that  has  resulted 
from  mental  and  physical  application.  Many  a  man 
has  worked  himself  to  death  thinking  of  the  thou- 
sands or  millions  of  dollars  he  would  reap  as  the  result 
of  some  great  invention  he  was  trying  to  produce.  We 
do  not  recommend  that  a  man  should  work  himself  to 
death,  but  we  do  say  that  from  this  class  of  toilers, 
who  have  burned  the  midnight  oil,  the  world  has 
received  its  greatest  blessings. 

When  Social  Reform  is  inaugurated,  competition, 
as  we  see  it  to-day,  will  be  largely  a  thing  of  the  past. 
The  people  wiU  be  guaranteed  a  living  under  all  cir- 

811 


312  PROPEK  SPURS  UNDER  SOCIAL  REFORM. 

cumstances,  and  no  one  need  tear  that  the  sheriff  will 
approach,  nor  that  the  pangs  of  hunger  will  be  felt 
as  long  as  the  earth  can  produce  enough  to  feed  all 
the  people.  It  is  argued  that,  as  a  result  of  these  con- 
ditions, there  will  be  a  great  check  to  inventive  genius 
and  to  educational  advancement,  and  therefore  the 
question  naturally  arises,  what  will  take  the  place  of 
competition  as  a  spur  to  urge  human  genius  and  en- 
deavor to  reach  the  highest  possible  plane  of  achieve- 
ment? 

Under  any  system  of  economics  the  most  hopeless 
of  all  people  are  those  who  have  no  desire  to  better 
their  condition,  and  who  seem  to  be  satisfied  with 
their  present  attainments.  Men  and  women  with  great 
possibilities  have  allowed  themselves  to  go  to  seed  by 
falling  back  into  the  loathsome  lap  of  natural  de- 
pravity. They  belong  to  the  class  of  people  who  sim- 
ply live  to  eat  and  again  eat  to  live.  There  are  mil- 
lions of  such  stars  that  have  fallen  in  the  blackness  of 
night  forever,  who,  under  the  ruling  power  of  a  pure 
ambition  to  stir  them  into  activity,  could  have  excelled 
in  glorious  brightness  even  unto  this  day.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  most  hopeful  class  of  people  are  those 
who  are  not  satisfied  with  their  present  state.  They 
are  ever  anxious  to  become  nobler,  or  become  better 
equipped,  so  that  they  shall  either  be  of  more  service 
in  the  world,  or  better  able  to  earn  a  livelihood.  The 
Social  Eeform  pessimist  advocates  that  this  latter 
class  of  people  will  be  reduced  to  the  level  of  the  first 
class  mentioned,  when  once  the  powerful  spur  of  com- 
petition is  eliminated.  We  wish  to  say  to  all  such 
dyspeptics  that  their  mental  conception  is  weak  and 


PROPEK  SPURS  UNDER  SOCIAL  REFORM.  313 

faulty,  if  they  so  anticipate  what  will  be  realized  under 
the  reign  of  Social  Reform. 

Can  it  be  true  that  under  the  reign  of  the  Co-opera- 
tive Commonwealth  there  will  be  no  spurs  to  urge  hu- 
manity onward!  We  answer  by  saying  that  there  will 
be  as  many  spurs  as  the  people  will  wish  to  have,  and 
we  believe  that  greater  things  will  be  done  in  the  new 
kingdom  to  come  than  were  ever  accomplished  under 
the  long  and  cruel  reign  of  competition.  First  of  all, 
people  will  be  born  and  reared  better,  and  better  hy- 
gienic conditions  will  prevail  everywhere.  We  will 
have  a  race  of  stronger  men  and  women.  Many  of  the 
bright  intellects  that  have  dropped  into  oblivion  under 
our  present  grinding  systems  of  industry,  would  have 
shone  brightly  in  the  firmament  of  their  native  glory, 
if  equal  opportunity  had  been  offered  to  all. 

In  the  coming  golden  age  of  Social  Reform,  there 
will  be  means  adopted  whereby  any  person  who  ren- 
ders special  service  for  humanity  will  be  signally  re- 
warded. There  can  be  eight  or  ten  kinds  of  medals 
each  ranging  in  order  of  merit  from  the  lowest  to  the 
highest,  and  when  a  person  is  granted  any  one  of  these 
medals  by  the  order  of  human  Society,  or  its  repre- 
sentatives, it  will  mean  more  to  that  person  in  the  new 
age  than  wealth  could  have  possibly  meant  to  him  at 
the  present  time.  A  person  who  studies  out  a  great 
invention  and  it  appeals  to  the  chosen  representatives 
of  the  people  as  such,  can  be  given  one  of  the  highest 
medals  of  honor,  which  will  entitle  him  to  a  life-long 
vacation  from  all  the  restraints  that  Society  would 
otherwise  place  upon  him.  He  can  then  engage  in  such 
pursuits  as  he  chooses,  working  only  when  he  pleases, 
and  traveling  where  he  wishes  at  the  expense  of  So- 


314  PROPER  SPURS  UNDER  SOCIAL  REFORM. 

ciety.  It  can  be  made  a  lawful  custom  for  such  per- 
sons to  wear  their  medals  so  that  one  by  doing  so, 
would  not  need  to  appear  vain  or  presumptuous. 

Some  one  may  object  by  saying  that  a  system  of 
medals  will  prove  to  be  an  evil  just  like  a  system  of 
titles.  We  answer  by  saying  that  the  tendency  in  this 
direction  will  not  be  as  strong  as  it  is  under  our  pres- 
ent order  of  economics,  and  if  the  people  are  foolish 
enough  to  abuse  the  medal  privilege,  they  will  be 
obliged  to  suffer  their  abuses  until  they  are  remedied. 
If  the  medal  privilege  is  abused,  it  can  be  made 
more  difficult  for  one  to  receive  this  honor,  thereby 
granting  a  less  number  of  medals.  No  two  medals 
will  be  alike;  there  can  be  just  as  many  forms 
to  be  awarded  as  may  be  deemed  best  for  the  welfare 
of  Society,  and  each  one  will  stand  for  a  distinct  line 
of  privileges  to  be  enjoyed  by  the  individual  holding  it. 

Another  spur  under  the  reign  of  Social  Reform,  will 
be  along  the  line  of  educational  advancement.  Per- 
sons who  excel  by  reason  of  laborious  study  or  intrin- 
sic worth,  can  be  honored  with  the  more  trustworthy 
work  of  Society,  and  can  be  given  the  educational 
medal  that  will  stand  for  special  privileges.  The  aim 
to  occupy  the  more  honored  positions  of  Society  will 
be  a  spur  more  effective  than  most  people  imagine. 
It  is  perfectly  proper  that  if  a  person  study  hard  and 
long,  and  thereby  fulfill  certain  educational  require- 
ments, he  should  be  rewarded  with  one  of  the  positions 
of  honor.  Some  persons  must  necessarily  fill  such  po- 
sitions, and  why  should  they  not  be  given  to  those  who 
have  fitted  themselves  best  for  this  work?  This  policy 
would  bring  the  richest  fruits  to  Society,  and  would 
be  a  splendid  means  of  rewarding  merit. 


PEOPER  SPURS  UNDER  SOCIAL  REFORM.  315 

In  the  glorious  coming  kingdom  of  the  Co-operative 
Commonwealth,  honor  will  take  the  place  of  wealth, 
and  in  many  more  instances  the  love  of  service  will 
take  the  place  of  grim  necessity.  It  will  be  much  more 
likely  that  people  will  enjoy  work  when  the  slavish 
aspect  has  been  taken  away,  and  when  it  is  no  longer 
regarded  as  a  disgrace. 

Another  spur  under  Social  Eeform  will  be  the  rec- 
reation feature.  It  will  be  possible  for  any  man  or 
woman  who  has  lived  in  good  behavior,  and  performed 
his  or  her  share  of  the  work  to  enjoy  the  privileges  of 
travel  at  certain  seasons  of  the  year.  Every  worker 
will  be  allowed  a  month's  vacation  each  year,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  shorter  periods  of  rest  that  will  be  in- 
terspersed throughout  the  year.  This  month's  vaca- 
tion can  be  spent  in  any  distant  part  of  the  country, 
for  every  worker  will  be  entitled  annually  to  a  speci- 
fied number  of  miles  of  free  transportation  over  the 
national  railway,  and  if  he  wishes  to  take  his  wife  and 
family  with  him,  he  can  either  draw  upon  his  credit 
that  has  accumulated,  or  he  can  wait  until  sufficient 
mileage  is  due  him,  and  in  this  manner  the  working- 
man  with  his  family  can  spend  a  few  weeks  traveling 
over  the  country.  This  is  not  a  wild  dream,  although 
it  reads  like  one.  It  ought  to  be  possible  for  any  man 
to  enjoy  privileges  of  this  character,  and  if  the  hun- 
dreds and  millions  of  dollars  that  are  flowing  into  the 
treasuries  of  the  great  corporations,  were  shared  by 
the  ones  who  work  to  create  this  wealth,  it  would  mean 
less  labor  and  more  recreation  for  all. 

This  is  a  mighty  spur  that  the  average  worker  of 
the  present  age  does  not  enjoy.  He  must  grind  away 
at  his  severe  tasks,  and,  when  pay  day  comes,  it  re- 


316  PROPER  SPURS  UNDER  SOCIAL  REFORM. 

quires  all  his  earnings  to  pay  the  rent,  grocery  bill 
and  other  expenses  that  have  been  incurred  since  his 
last  pay  day;  and,  in  millions  of  instances,  the  poor 
workers  can  count  themselves  fortunate  if  they  have 
enough  money  to  meet  all  the  natural  expenses  neces- 
sary for  the  support  of  their  families.  What  encour- 
agement has  any  one  of  these  men?  They  are  robbed 
of  their  liberty  in  a  free  land,  for  they  must  go  to  work 
early  and  return  late.  I  met  a  poor  father  a  short 
time  ago,  who  told  me  that  he  did  not  see  his  children 
from  Sunday  until  Sunday;  he  was  obliged  to  go  to 
work  before  they  were  out  of  bed,  and  return  home 
after  they  had  gone  to  bed;  and  then  very  frequently 
his  employer  demanded  him  to  work  on  Sunday. 
What  could  the  poor  man  do!  It  was  a  position  at 
which  he  had  learned  how  to  make  enough  money  to 
support  his  family,  and  his  continued  attention  to  this 
particular  work  had,  in  a  measure,  incapacitated  him 
for  other  work.  You  may  call  such  a  man  as  free  as 
you  wish,  but,  in  our  opinion,  he  is  the  meanest  kind 
of  a  slave,  with  a  galling  yoke  around  his  neck,  a  cruel 
object  lesson  of  the  present  wicked  system  of  greedy 
competition. 

Under  Social  Eeform,  the  worker  will  not  be  re- 
quired to  toil  more  than  six  or  seven  hours  a  day, 
and,  by  doing  so,  he  will  be  entitled  to  enough  to 
support  himself  and  family  decently,  and  to  enjoy 
enough  of  the  luxuries  to  afford  happiness  and  con- 
tentment for  all.  Such  a  worker  will  then  feel  as  if  he 
were  a  human  being,  with  a  crown  of  honor  and  dignity 
upon  his  head,  instead  of  being  a  common  tool  of  greed 
and  a  living  fool  of  need. 

We  wish  to  have  it  clearly  understood  that  these 


PROPER  SPURS  UNDER  SOCIAL  REFORM.  317 

blessings  can  only  come  to  humanity  providing  the 
power  and  influence  of  the  Christian  Church  is  not 
relegated  to  the  rear.  No  people  living  in  the  midst 
of  sinful  and  reckless  conditions  can  expect  to  be 
happy  and  prosperous  under  the  most  favorable  econo- 
mic conditions.  The  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  on  earth 
must  have  full  sway,  just  as  complete  as  it  ever  has 
had.  We  are  not  talking  of  some  ideal  condition  of 
righteousness  on  earth ;  that  would  spoil  the  argument 
of  all  the  chapters  in  this  book.  We  are  only  asking 
that  Christianity  be  given  its  rightful  place  and  be 
allowed  to  operate  with  all  the  freedom  possible;  and 
even  if  it  does  not  accomplish  any  more  than  it  is  ac- 
complishing now,  all  the  conditions  that  we  have  prom- 
ised for  Social  Reform  can  be  fully  and  easily  real- 
ized. We  would  also  clearly  state  that  during  the 
continuance  of  the  present  Gospel  age,  while  the  two 
forces  of  Sin  and  Evil  are  operating  in  the  world,  the 
time  will  never  come  when  the  possibility  of  all  trouble 
will  be  avoided. 

With  all  the  spurs  that  are  urging  men  and  women 
onward,  the  greatest  of  all  is  the  spur  of  righteous 
deeds  resulting  from  the  new  birth  of  Christ  in  the  soul 
of  the  individual.  It  is  remarkable  how  men  and  wo- 
men who  are  thus  born  anew,  are  urged  onward  to  a 
noble  life,  to  the  accomplishment  of  still  greater 
things,  for  the  uplifting  of  humanity.  This  line  of  ac- 
tion has  been  the  bright  side  of  the  world  ^s  history 
throughout  the  stormy  ages  of  the  past.  The  world 
wonders  what  power  sends  the  thousands  of  mission- 
aries away  from  the  comforts  and  luxuries  of  Ameri- 
can homes,  to  live  in  dirty  hovels,  and  sacrifice  even 
their  lives  for  the  sake  of  educating,  enlightening  and 


318  PROPER  SPURS  UNDER  SOCIAL  REFORM. 

Christianizing  the  heathens  of  the  earth.  It  is  the  spur 
of  all  spurs  that  moves  them  onward ;  it  is  the  miracle 
of  all  miracles  in  every  age  of  the  world,  and  is  still 
manifesting  itself  in  the  hearts  and  lives  of  millions  of 
people.  What  other  force  has  uplifted  mankind  outside 
of  this  ?  Name  any  agency  you  wish,  and  you  will  find 
it  to  be  the  outgrowth  of  Christian  endeavor,  some- 
how or  somewhere;  and  we  can  expect  that,  to  the 
same  extent  that  people  will  become  subject  to  the 
higher  laws  of  God,  and  obedient  to  the  will  of  God, 
they  shall  enjoy  the  temporal  blessings  of  life,  and 
complete  the  circle  of  happiness  in  their  life  on  earth. 
We  doubt  not  that  critics  will  always  be  able  to  pick 
flaws  with  any  condition  of  economics  under  which  we 
do  or  may  live.  We  need  not  be  unduly  influenced  by 
the  habitual  fault-finder,  for  it  is  clearly  evident  that 
some  have  even  criticised  Christianity  unfavorably, 
and  have  tried  to  upset  the  holy  Bible  with  its  doc- 
trines of  Heaven  and  Hell.  If  men  are  bold  enough 
to  deny  such  fundamental  truths  and  facts,  we  need 
not  be  surprised  to  hear  many  foolish  criticisms  and 
objections  offered  against  the  establishment  of  a  Co- 
operative Commonwealth,  which  is  to  redeem  man 
socially  as  Christ  has  redeemed  him  spiritually. 


The;  Path  of  Human  Life. — This  is  the  path  we  all  must  travel  and 
pay  our  daily  toll  to  one  trust  after  another.  The  burden  is  becoming  un- 
bearable and  it  must  come  to  an  end. 


Monument  of  Skulls.— When  the  battle  between  Capital  and  Labor 
IS  over,  such  a  gruesome  monument  will  be  a  suitable  memorial.  Two  old 
survivors  have  come  to  shed  a  few  more  tears  in  memory  of  the  cruel  age 
of  competition. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 


In  the  preceding  twenty-eight  chapters  we  have 
given  a  brief  description  of  our  economic  conditions 
and  have  suggested  a  remedy.  We  cannot  expect  that 
a  person  prejudiced  in  favor  of  Capitalism  will  accept 
and  promulgate  the  teachings  throughout  this  book; 
but,  if  he  would,  with  an  unbiased  mind,  carefully 
study  the  whole  subject  of  economics,  he  would  no 
longer  be  dead  to  the  suffering  of  the  masses  and  the 
heartlessness  of  the  higher  classes.  He  would  then 
be  more  inclined  to  champion  the  cause  of  Labor,  and 
lay  bare  the  iniquitous  schemes  hatched  out  under  the 
cover  of  Monopoly  and  Greed. 

Surely  the  reader  will  not  question  the  accuracy  of 
the  first  chapter  in  the  book,  for  it  is  altogether  too 
apparent  that  the  statements  contained  therein  are 
true.  The  fight  of  the  workingmen  to  secure  their 
rights  is  the  most  stubborn  of  all  the  contests  in  the 
world.  The  facts  and  conditions  that  are  being 
brought  to  light  during  this  great  Capital  and  Labor 

321 


322  A  GENERAL  GLIMPSE. 

struggle,  present  the  most  alarming  conditions  and 
will  precipitate  a  most  direful  calamity  if  proper  set- 
tlement is  not  effected. 

Concerning  the  second  and  third  chapters,  there  can 
be  no  objections  raised.  Labor  was  early  dragged 
into  disrepute  by  the  unkindness  of  man  to  man  under 
the  influence  of  sin,  and  the  great  duty  of  humanity 
now  is  to  separate  Labor  and  disgrace  forever.  The 
advance  toward  liberty  has  been  indeed  a  long  and 
severe  struggle,  and  has  agitated  every  period  of  the 
world's  history;  and  now  the  most  important  crisis  is 
at  hand.  We  do  not  hesitate  to  say  that  the  Co-opera- 
tive Commonwealth  will  give  the  surest  and  safest 
deliverance  to  the  fettered  millions  of  our  land  to-day. 

Any  reader  familiar  with  statistics  will  hardly  deny 
the  facts  contained  in  chapters  four  and  five,  where 
we  have  given  a  description  of  the  condition  of  the 
skilled  and  unskilled  laborers.  Even  before  this  book 
went  to  press,  we  heard  words  of  appreciation  from 
those  who  chanced  to  read  the  manuscript  of  these 
chapters.  In  our  consideration  of  the  more  unfortu- 
nate classes  of  people,  we  endeavored  to  be  fair.  If 
we  had  gone  to  the  one  extreme  and  desired  to  present 
pictures  of  the  darkest  horror,  we  would  have  multi- 
plied tenfold  our  descriptions  of  the  wretchedness  and 
terror  that  have  come  to  humanity  as  the  fruits  of 
greed  and  competition. 

From  chapters  six  to  ten  inclusive,  we  have  given 
a  faithful  statement  of  the  several  great  causes  that 
have  led  to  the  general  discontent  among  working- 
men.  The  reader  can  do  as  he  wishes  in  believing  or 
doubting  the  truthfulness  of  these  chapters,  but  he 
cannot  brush  aside  the  real  facts  as  we  see  them  in  the 


A  GENERAL  GLIMPSE.  323 

daily  life  of  our  American  workingmen.  Facts  are 
more  convincing  than  all  theories,  and  if  you  read 
these  five  chapters  of  Labor's  discontent,  you  will  find 
that  we  have  held  strictly  to  conditions  as  they 
prevail. 

Whatever  we  have  said  in  this  book  on  the  subject 
of  Monopoly  in  chapters  ten  and  eleven,  or  in  any 
other  part  of  the  book,  we  believe  is  an  honest  presen- 
tation of  the  whole  subject,  and,  of  necessity,  very 
briefly  considered.  We  are  just  beginning  to  see  the 
fearful  power  of  money,  for  its  curse  is  coming  upon 
us  with  increasing  ratio.  The  scenes  of  the  past 
twenty  years  have  been  almost  dramatic,  and  both  the 
moderately  and  the  immensely  rich  ought  to  help 
solve  this  problem  for  the  present  and  for  future 
generations. 

If  the  masses  of  people  will  not  awake  to  the  situa- 
tion and  take  radical  action,  the  prophecy  of  chapter 
twelve  will  come  to  pass,  and  we  will  go  down  to  ruin 
as  we  deserve.  This  brings  us  to  ask  in  the  language 
of  the  subject  of  chapter  thirteen,  **Why  are  -the 
Wrongs  not  Eighted?'*  This  is  considered  by  some 
of  our  friends  as  one  of  the  most  reasonable  chapters 
in  the  book.  It  places  the  blame  of  our  present  condi- 
tions at  the  right  place.  Some  radical  reformers  will 
not  like  this  chapter  very  much,  just  because  it 
searches  after  the  real  truth,  and  does  not  heap  flam- 
ing condemnation  on  the  Monopolists.  The  question 
has  often  come  into  our  minds,  *^How  many  people 
would  continue  in  poverty  if  they  had  the  chance  to  be 
rich?'*  It  has  always  seemed  inconsistent  to  us  that 
the  one  who  cannot  get  wealth  should  curse  the  one 
who  has  been  able  to  attain  it.  In  all  this  we  do  not 
20 


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A  GENERAL  GLIMPSE.  325 

wish  to  be  misunderstood;  it  is  n9t  our  purpose  to 
wink  at  the  methods  used  to  gain  riches;  but  we  do 
wish  to  say  clearly,  that  the  present  system  of  compe- 
tition, and  an  insatiable  human  greed,  are  the  two 
great  powers  that  are  mainly  responsible  for  the 
wretched  contrasts  in  Society  to-day. 

In  chapters  fourteen  and  fifteen,  we  have  outlined 
the  history  and  the  work  of  the  labor  unions,  and  have 
shown  what  an  important  factor  they  have  been  and 
are  in  elevating  the  mass  of  workers.  They  have 
overcome  many  internal  and  external  difficulties,  and 
will,  no  doubt,  stay  in  the  conflict  until  the  battle  is 
over.  It  is  true  that,  in  many  localities,  much  evil  has 
resulted  from  the  work  of  organized  Labor,  yet  it  must 
be  admitted  that  the  general  uprisiag  of  Labor  had 
proved  to  be  a  very  effective  force  in  fighting  agaiast 
the  heartless  and  crushiug  greed  of  Monopoly.  It  has 
prevented  the  total  enslavement  of  the  masses,  so  that 
it  is  now  possible  for  them  to  strike  off  their  shackles 
forever. 

Chapters  sixteen  to  twenty  inclusive  form  an  im- 
portant section  of  the  book.  Here  we  have  considered 
the  remedies  that  have  been  suggested  or  tried  in  order 
to  cure  the  ills  of  Society,  and  thereby  extend  to  all 
people  the  natural  liberties  and  blessings  that  God 
intended  they  should  enjoy.  We  have  given  a  long  and 
careful  study  to  the  several  remedies  proposed  in 
these  chapters.  Concerniag  our  opinion  of  the  rash 
remedies,  we  refer  you  to  chapter  sixteen.  The  reme- 
dies described  in  chapters  seventeen,  eighteen  and 
niueteen  are  all  partial  in  their  effect,  and  some  of 
them  are  worthy  of  consideration.  In  chapters  twenty 
and  twenty-one,  we  find  the  rays  of  hope,  and,  no 


326  A  GENERAL  GLIMPSE. 

doubt,  we  will  be  piisiinderstood  by  many  readers  in 
saying  this.  We  therefore  ask  your  attention  to  some 
words  of  explanation  in  regard  to  Socialism  and 
its  followers.  There  is  a  low  class  of  Socialists  who 
are  mostly  free-thinking  infidels  and  reckless  conserva- 
tors of  thought.  These  have  done  much  to  dishonor  a 
good  movement,  and  have  caused  many  of  the  noble 
minded  to  scorn  at  Socialism  altogether.  The  diffi- 
culty of  all  good  reforms  is  that  some  classes  of  peo- 
ple dash  ahead  into  an  ultra  radicalism,  and  thereby 
do  more  harm  than  good. 

There  is  also  a  reputable  class  of  Socialists,  who 
have  intelligently  surveyed  the  whole  Social  question, 
and  are  faithfully  striving  to  create  public  sentiment 
in  favor  of  Socialism.  Some  of  these  are  Christian 
and  some  are  not,  although  Christian  Socialism  will 
be  the  ultimate  platform.  Perhaps  the  best  terms  to 
be  employed  as  descriptive  of  an  ideal  system  of  eco- 
nomics, would  be  the  Co-operative  Commonwealth. 
But  it  is  needless  to  offer  an  apology  for  the  word 
Socialism;  the  word  itself  is  very  good,  and  is  per- 
haps the  best  that  can  be  used  in  connection  with  the 
reform  for  which  so  many  true-hearted  men  and 
women  are  praying  to-day.  If  we  can  get  this  reform 
in  line  with  the  lofty  teaching  of  Jesus  Christ,  it  does 
not  matter  very  much  what  word  is  used.  In  the  pre- 
ceding chapters  we  have  frequently  used  the  term 
Social  Eeform  to  indicate  the  coming  period  of  indus- 
trial equality.  By  the  reading  of  these  few  lines,  the 
reader  will  understand  why  so  many  different  terms 
are  used  interchangeably,  if  he  has  not  understood  it 
before. 

In  chapters  twenty-two,  twenty-three  and  twenty- 


A  GENERAL  GLIMPSE.  327 

four,  we  have  outlined  some  of  the  blessings  that  will 
be  enjoyed  by  humanity  when  the  golden  period  of 
Social  Reform  is  inaugurated.  To  these  chapters  we 
invite  the  most  careful  attention  of  the  reader;  for 
they  are  suggestive  more  than  exhaustive;  and  the 
best  of  all  they  are  practical  instead  of  fanciful.  It  is 
hard  to  form  a  full  picture  of  the  transformed  condi- 
tions of  human  Society  when  the  fearful  losses  of  com- 
petition are  eliminated,  and  when  all  the  surplus  labor 
is  thrown  into  producing  channels.  In  our  ignorance 
we  boast  of  our  advancement  to-day,  and  yet  we  are 
doing  business  as  a  nation  in  the  most  unbusinesslike 
manner,  and  with  the  most  wasteful  methods.  Read 
carefully  the  three  chapters  above  noted  before  you 
charge  us  with  being  pessimistic.  We  admit  that  we 
are  greatly  in  advance  as  a  nation  over  any  other  for- 
mer period  of  our  existence;  but  compared  with  what 
we  might  or  should  be,  we  are  faf  in  the  rear.  Chap- 
ter twenty-four  alone,  gives  a  picture  of  our  blighted 
industrial  life,  and  in  that  chapter  we  make  some  at- 
tempt to  picture  the  fearful  waste  due  to  our  present 
grinding  life  of  competition  in  business.  We  do  not 
pause  to  think  of  these  things ;  nearly  all  facts  of  this 
kind  are  revelations  to  us.  Just  as  needless  as  the 
fifth  wheel  on  the  ordinary  wagon,  are  all  the  lines  of 
waste  labor  outlined  in  this  twenty-fourth  chapter. 
Who  would  care,  if  this  loss  of  time  and  labor  did  not 
affect  the  great  mass  of  workers!  They  are  the  ones 
who  are  made  the  slaves  by  reason  of  these  sinful  and 
far-reaching  losses.  When  we  take  the  broom  of  So- 
cial Reform  and  brush  down  all  these  darksome  cob- 
webs, there  will  soon  be  a  purer  atmosphere,  and  the 


328  A  GENEKAL  GLIMPSE. 

incoming  of  a  greater  flood  of  light,  and  consequently- 
greater  happiness  will  prevail  everywhere. 

Who  will  not  welcome  the  period  when  the  aged  and 
unfortunate  will  be  duly  respected?  Just  as  we  were 
writing  this  chapter,  we  lifted  the  daily  paper  and 
read  that  the  aged  inmates  of  a  certain  county  poor- 
house  were  dying  of  neglect  and  starvation.  There 
were  aged  fathers  and  mothers  who  were  unfortunate 
enough  to  outlive  their  children,  or,  perchance,  to  suf- 
fer the  disgrace  of  having  heartless  children,  were 
now  at  the  cold  mercy  of  an  almshouse,  controlled  by 
brutal  and  heartless  managers.  We  will  all  welcome 
the  day  when  the  aged  will  live  in  the  finest  buildings 
and  receive  the  best  attention,  and  when  they  will  not 
be  considered  as  burdens,  but  may  feel  that  they  are 
really  our  fathers  and  our  mothers.  And  likewise  will 
we  all  rejoice  when  the  tramp  nuisance  shall  have  been 
settled;  there  will  be  no  want  or  tramps  under  Social 
Reform.  They  seem  to  be  inevitable  under  our 
present  order. 

And  will  it  not  be  a  day  of  great  rejoicing  when 
nobody  can  have  a  motive  for  adulterating  foods  of  any 
kind,  or  producing  inferior  articles  of  manufacture? 
Do  not  say  we  are  dreaming!  We  are  talking  in  the 
soberness  of  our  souls.  We  are  speaking  a  truth  that 
will  burn  its  way,  some  day,  to  the  front.  We  need 
not  here  repeat  all  the  blessings  enumerated  in  the 
three  chapters  above  cited,  for  we  presume  that  a  per- 
son reading  this  chapter  has  already  read  those  chap- 
ters. We  will  spend  no  time  on  the  important  chapter, 
numbered  twenty-five,  entitled,  **  Christ  and  Social 
Reform,'^  for  it  covers  such  a  distinct  field,  that  to  re- 
view it,  would  be  to  repeat  practically  the  entire  chap- 


A  GENERAL  GLIMPSE.  329' 

ter.  We  would  urge  upon  the  reader,  who  may  have 
passed  over  that  chapter  lightly,  to  consider  it  with 
careful  thought.  Tt  reveals  the  attitude  of  the  greatest 
teacher  that  ever  lived,  regarding  the  economic  condi- 
tions under  which  Society  may  enjoy  its  greatest 
blessings. 

Chapter  twenty-six,  considers  the  all-important 
question  of  how  to  get  Social  Reform.  Turn  back  a 
few  pages  and  read  this  chapter,  if  you  have  not  al- 
ready done  so,  and  you  will  find  that  we  believe  in  the 
stepping-stones  of  progress.  This  is  a  practical  field 
in  which  we  may  all  work.  Let  us  therefore  do  what 
we  can  in  any  local  effort,  such  as  attempts  to  secure 
Municipal  Ownership ;  and  also,  let  us  not  forsake  po- 
litical efforts  that  are  being  advanced  and  supported 
in  the  interests  of  Social  Reform.  We  regret  that 
according  to  past  occurrences  and  present  indications, 
it  does  not  appear  that  the  masses  of  laboring  men  can 
expect  to  get  relief  during  the  reign  of  either  one  of 
the  great  political  parties  of  to-day. 

For  the  satisfaction  of  those  who  look  ahead  for 
trouble,  we  have  written  chapter  twenty-seven,  to  show 
that  it  is  possible  for  the  government  to  get  possession 
of  our  industries.  We  have  not  carried  this  phase  of 
the  subject  to  its  many  results.  There  are  hundreds 
of  questions  that  arise,  and  to  consider  them  all  would 
require  another  volume ;  and,  for  that  reason,  we  have 
simply  hinted  at  the  manner  in  which  the  transforma- 
tion can  take  place,  and  we  must  depend  on  the  good 
sense  and  good  judgment  of  the  people  who  are  happy 
enough  to  win  the  victory  against  Monopoly,  to  in- 
augurate a  system  of  economics  that  will  be  adequate, 


330  A  GENERAL  GLIMPSE. 

and  as  complete  as  can  be  obtained  by  the  best  wisdom 
of  the  people. 

We  need  not  say  anything  further  concerntQg  chap- 
ter twenty-eight  just  precediug  this  one.  It  overcomes 
the  most  serious  criticism  that  has  been  offered 
against  the  Co-operative  Commonwealth.  If  the 
greatest  difficulties  can  be  so  easily  overcome,  it  is 
needless  that  we  enter  upon  a  long  and  tedious  dis- 
cussion of  the  probable  manner  in  which  the  lesser 
difficulties  might  be  overcome.  Other  writers  have 
prophesied  at  length  concerning  the  details  of  the  Co- 
operative Commonwealth ;  they  have  told  us  to  a  nicety 
just  how  things  will  be  managed,  and  how  everybody 
will  be  happy.  Their  theories  may  be  correct  or  they 
may  be  false ;  to  us  it  makes  but  little  difference  as  to 
the  smaller  details.  When  a  man  buys  a  house  he  can 
arrange  tlie  furniture  to  suit'  himself.  The  thing  that 
interests  us  most  is  the  settling  of  the  great  points  at 
issue,  such  as  we  have  covered  in  this  book;  and  if 
these  wrongs  are  adjusted,  and  if  the  causes  of  our 
present  economic  ills  are  swept  away,  then  the  happy 
results  will  follow,  just  as  the  day  follows  the  night. 

When  the  war  is  over,  and  the  din  of  battle  no 
longer  disturbs  a  peace-loving  people,  what  will  be  the 
Opinion  of  that  fortunate  generation  as  it  reviews  the 
past?  It  will  most  naturally  regard  our  present  Capi- 
talistic system  as  the  second  of  the  Dark  Ages  in  which 
day  and  night  mingled  in  strange  confusion.  You 
have  no  doubt  seen  the  picture  in  this  book,  with  its 
monuments  of  skulls  rising  heavenward.  We  admit 
that  the  picture  is  fanciful  more  than  realistic,  but  it 
tells  its  own  story  of  our  present  Capitalistic  system; 
when  crime  walks  in  broadcloth  and  silks,  and  chastity 


A  GENERAX.  GLIMPSE.  331 

is  too  often  robed  in  rags.  These  skulls  also  speak 
of  untold  crimes  committed  in  the  name  of  decency, 
crimes  as  black  as  any  midnight  of  the  world's  history. 
These  skulls  also  tell  their  ominous  tales  of  the  woe 
and  wretchedness,  of  the  misery  and  death  that  comes 
to  countless  numbers  of  the  human  race,  all  laid  low 
under  the  grinding  wheels  of  poverty,  greed,  competi- 
tion and  Monopoly.  The  question  arises  from  the 
murmuring  masses  of  to-day,  ^^Will  humanity  ever  be 
freer'  and  the  answer  comes  to  us  from  the  brave 
sons  and  daughters  of  the  whole  nation,  as  they  are 
rapidly  awakening  from  the  sleep  of  ages :  *  *  We  shall 
be  free  at  last,  for  the  chains  must  fall  from  more 
than  four  times  four  millions  of  industrial  slaves.'* 

We  feel  like  exclaiming  after  the  style  of  the  great 
Apostle,  0  Competition,  where  is  thy  sting  I  0  Mo- 
nopoly, where  is  thy  victory!  And  the  answer  will 
come,  they  have  been  taken  away  by  the  help  of  God, 
and  by  the  outstretched  arms  of  the  millions  who 
clamored  for  deliverance  from  the  fearful  bondage. 


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